


Clarity

by anecdotalist



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Doesn't take place in TCW but references things that happened in it, Exasperated!Obi-Wan, F/M, Jealous!Anakin, M/M, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-27
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2018-05-29 09:30:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 82,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6369427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anecdotalist/pseuds/anecdotalist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anakin's jealousy leads to the start of something new between him and Obi-Wan and a lot of frank discussions about things they should have talked about but didn't in canon.</p>
<hr/>
<p>"It seems that Master Kenobi has been in contact with a certain Senator who is known to be among the leaders of this cabal. Apparently, very close contact. The rumor is that he was seen leaving this Senator's residence this very morning, at an...unseemly hour." Palpatine's voice oozes concern but his eyes gleam sharply.</p>
<p>Anakin's barely aware of the strategic micro-second of a pause, though; the phrases <i>close contact</i> and <i>unseemly hour</i> rebounding around in his head. Who? Who can it be that Obi-Wan is having <i>assignations</i> with? Why hadn’t he known about this?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First there was this [post](http://iamyourpathos.tumblr.com/post/140341915857/a-quote-from-rots-novelisation-i-like-how) about how in the ROTS novelization, Anakin had jumped to the conclusion that Obi-Wan was sleeping with a male Senator before Palpatine told him it was Padme. And then I came up with this [fic prompt](http://likealeafonthewind.tumblr.com/post/141741504913/au-in-which-when-palpatine-insinuates-that) which stuck with me so much I decided to write it. 
> 
> Palpatine's lines in this first chapter are from the novelization.

"It seems that Master Kenobi has been in contact with a certain Senator who is known to be among the leaders of this cabal. Apparently, very  _ close _ contact. The rumor is that he was seen leaving this Senator's residence this very morning, at an...unseemly hour." Palpatine's voice oozes concern but his eyes gleam sharply.

Anakin's barely aware of the strategic micro-second of a pause, though; the phrases  _ close contact _ and  _ unseemly hour _ rebounding around in his head. Who? Who can it be that Obi-Wan is having  _ assignations  _ with? Why hadn’t he known about this? His hands clench into fists unconsciously. Without even pausing to think, he's up and storming out of Palpatine's office.

"Anakin, wait!" Palpatine calls out behind him, sounding a little off-balance. "Don't you want to know who it is?"

"I'll find out from him myself!" Anakin shouts back. He doesn't have time to sit with Palpatine any longer. Obi-Wan had apparently been with this person last night and Anakin won't stand for him going to him again tonight. Obi-Wan's  _ his _ . His Master, his best friend, his mentor, his  _ everything _ . No one could be allowed to come in between them.  _ Even though, _ a small voice inside Anakin's head pipes up,  _ we haven't been as close as we used to be. _ But no, Anakin will fix that.

He walks as quickly as he can through the Senate halls - as much as he'd like to, running would only bring him unwanted attention and would cause the Senators around him to panic. His heart pounds as he goes and his breath quickens. His mind can't stop conjuring up images of Obi-Wan in bed with someone else, with another man, being physically affectionate in ways that he would never be with Anakin because he was always so kriffing  _ proper _ and concerned about the supposed  _ power imbalance _ in their relationship. Well, Anakin's had enough of that. He had said nothing about Satine because that had started before he had even met Obi-Wan and he never said anything about Ventress' flirtations with his Master because he knew that wouldn't go anywhere. But this...this  _ thing _ with a Senator? If Obi-Wan could overcome his dislike of politicians to sleep with a Senator, that's potentially serious. And new.

Anakin growls lowly as he gets into his speeder and pulls away with a roar of the engine. He drives even more recklessly than usual, diving in and out of traffic lanes with the single-minded purpose of getting to the Temple as fast as he possibly can.

When he gets there, the sky is just beginning to darken. He parks the speeder haphazardly and tears off down the halls, shamelessly using a bit of Force to boost his speed. He heads straight for their quarters - with so many of the Jedi out on the front lines, the Temple is so empty that both he and Obi-Wan had taken to eating their meals there instead of in the commissary whenever they were on-planet. And indeed, when the door opens to his biometric scans, he can smell a beef stew simmering in the kitchenette and hear a light clatter of utensils on ceramic.

"Anakin?" Obi-Wan calls out, though the man himself is still in the kitchen area. "I thought you were going to be at the Senate all day today." The Coruscanti-accented voice has a touch of humor in it and normally, Anakin would welcome the teasing that's about to come. But not now.

He stalks towards the kitchenette and sees Obi-Wan dishing out stew into a bowl. Obi-Wan glances over and quirks an eyebrow in question. Anakin shakes his head. He doesn't want anything to eat just yet. He takes the chance to look around the room while Obi-Wan turns back to the pot. There's a datapad next to a placemat on the dining table; the other half of the table sits empty save for a couple of droid parts Anakin had been working on earlier. The coffee table is covered in a collection of more droid parts along with his tools and some datapads Obi-Wan had borrowed from the Archives when they had gotten back to Coruscant a couple of days ago. One of Anakin's robes lies discarded on the sofa. Plants in various stages of bloom line the windowsill. His and Obi-Wan's Force signatures permeate the room, entwined so intricately that it's nearly impossible to tell where one ends and the other starts.

His breathing slows down as he forces himself to relax. There's no sign of another person here, so whatever is going on between Obi-Wan and the Senator, it isn't serious. Not yet.

"So," Obi-Wan says, turning to face him. He sets the bowl down on the counter instead of taking it over to the table, gives Anakin a mildly pointed stare while he fishes a spoon out of the drawer and takes a sip of his soup.

Anakin hesitates, tries to think how best to say something to the man renowned throughout the galaxy for having a way with words. Obi-Wan waits him out patiently, seemingly focused on his dinner. Anakin fights the urge to knock the spoon out of his hands and drag him in for a kiss. "Who is he?!" he finally blurts out, wincing a bit at how demanding that had come out. He never could control his emotions around Obi-Wan.

The older man's brows furrow. "Who's who?"

"The Senator!"

"What Senator?" Obi-Wan's paused in his eating and looks confused but Anakin's not buying it. He must know exactly who Anakin's asking about.

"The one you're  _ fucking _ ! Sith hells, Obi-Wan, did you think I wouldn't find out?!"

" _ Language, _ Anakin. And what are you talking about? I'm not sleeping with anyone."

Anakin feels his anger flare up at Obi-Wan's denial. "Is it Bail? I always thought you two were unnecessarily close." He starts pacing, feeling too restless to stand still anymore. His hands clench and unclench at his sides. "I'll kill him," he growls.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan says sharply and that's enough to make Anakin's head snap back towards his former Master. "There will be no killing of any Senators. Especially not one of the few who's actually decent." Anakin glowers at this and Obi-Wan sighs before continuing. "And again, I'm  _ not _ sleeping with anyone."

"How do I know you're not just lying to me to protect him?!" Anakin stalks over to him. Obi-Wan doesn't budge, of course, so they end up standing just inches apart. Anakin stares intently into Obi-Wan's eyes, trying to divine what secrets he's trying to keep from him. The Force feels electrified between them.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan begins reasonably, "we've been in the middle of a war. We're hardly on-planet for any significant length of time. How would I carry on an affair?"

There's no hint of a lie in his eyes, so Anakin reluctantly pulls back a bit. "If you really wanted to, you'd find a way," he mutters, and ignores how sulky he sounds.

Obi-Wan huffs out a small laugh. "Well, I don't want to, okay?"

"Good."

"What brought this on, anyway?" Obi-Wan turns back to his bowl of soup, apparently content with letting the matter drop.

_ Fuck that _ , Anakin thinks and surges forward again. He raises his flesh hand to cup Obi-Wan's face, threads his fingers into that ginger hair, angles his head, and dips down to take the other man's lips in a searing kiss. There's a brief pause and then Obi-Wan grips his shoulder and kisses him back and Anakin feels his heart soar. Kissing Obi-Wan is nothing like kissing Padmé. With his wife, it's soft and gentle, her flowery perfume filling the air around them, her uncalloused hands reminding him that he's home and not on the front lines. But with Obi-Wan, it's passionate and furious and almost tinged with desperation; Obi-Wan's hands are strong and grounding and they make Anakin feel safe. The Force swirls around them, sings of how  _ right _ this is, pulses with the potential of their combined power.

"Wait," Obi-Wan gasps, pulling back. His grip keeps Anakin from following him and he frowns. "We can't - we shouldn't be doing this." Obi-Wan shakes his head, though he doesn't let go of Anakin or try to push him away.

"Why not? You know how I feel about you. You've known how I felt for years! I told you!"

"You were sixteen, Anakin. And my Padawan. Do you think me the kind of person who takes advantage of someone under their tutelage?" Obi-Wan's voice is even but his eyes betray just a tiny flash of hurt.

"No, of course not. But we're not Master and Padawan anymore. So why can't we do this now?"

"I still have authority over you, Anakin. I'm on the Council."

Anakin rolls his eyes. "Right, the Council. That thing that I  _ always _ listen to, right?"

"That thing that you  _ should _ be listening to," Obi-Wan responds wryly.

"Obi-Wan, I can assure you that if I didn't want something to happen between us, I'm more than capable of stopping it.  _ Forcefully _ , if necessary."

Obi-Wan's lips twitch. "That is a terrible pun."

"But true, in any case." When Obi-Wan concedes this with a slight nod, Anakin grins. "Now can we -" he waggles his brows and leers just a little.

Obi-Wan groans but when Anakin leans in for another kiss, he holds him back. "Not so fast, my former Padawan. The Code forbids attachment, remember?"

Anakin scowls. "It's always the Code with you! Fine, then," he bites off. "We don't have to get  _ attached _ . This could just be a, a release. A mutual one. In time of war and all that."

"We're not at war right  _ now _ ."

"Kriffing hell, Obi-Wan! Why are you trying to so hard to keep this from happening? I know you want me! I've  _ felt _ it! And I've been waiting for you to do something but you never do!"

"It wouldn't be appropriate! I'm much too old for you, I used to be in a position of authority over you, and now I'm on the Council which means upholding the Code and serving as an example to the other Jedi, including you!"

Anakin throws up his hands at this, shrugging Obi-Wan's off of his shoulders. "Fuck the Council!" he shouts. "Ever since you were given a seat on there, it's like I lost you. You're always wrapped up in Jedi business, keeping secrets, and becoming best friends with  _ Mace _ ! You used to talk to me! You used to have my back. You used to care about me! Or at least, you made it seem like you did but I guess I was always second to the Order."

Obi-Wan looks stunned and Anakin experiences a moment of vicious satisfaction at breaking his Master's calm but it sours quickly and bitterness settles in. Then Obi-Wan reaches out and grasps his arm tightly. "Anakin,  _ you _ are my best friend. I do care about you. There's no one else I'd rather have at my side." He shakes his arm slightly in emphasis and then relaxes his grip. "I trust you with my life. The Council's secrets aren't mine to share but I'm sorry I've been so distant that you're questioning our relationship. You're not second to the Order."

"I'm not?" Anakin asks in surprise and he kind of hates how young he sounds, like a kid seeking reassurance and validation.

"No, you're not," Obi-Wan affirms and his eyes are warm. "I love you. You're like a brother to me."

Anakin scoffs, but his heart feels lighter and his mind feels calmer. "Brothers don't watch each other the way I've seen you watching me."

Obi-Wan blushes faintly. "Nevertheless," he says firmly, "I'm not sure it's a good idea to pursue this."

"What? Why not? You just said you love me!"

"I do. But I'm already overly attached to you. And you to me. If we take this further, what do you think is going to happen?"

"Not all attachments are bad, Obi-Wan. Ours has gotten us out of some pretty tough situations."

"That may be the case," Obi-Wan starts and then he draws a breath and straightens and Anakin can almost see him visibly pulling the shroud of Jedi Master around him.

"No," he hurries to stop him. At Obi-Wan's surprise, he clarifies: "This is just between you and me, Obi-Wan and Anakin. Not Jedi Master Kenobi of the Council and Knight Skywalker. You're always so worried about having authority over me? Well, stop pulling rank on me and just  _ talk _ to me.”

Obi-Wan sighs and slumps a little, rubbing at his beard as he contemplates Anakin thoughtfully. "Very well. I'm just worried about you. About what you'll do if we start this. What happens if I die in battle? If I get captured? Or just injured? You barely keep your head together now, there's no telling how it'll affect you if we go through with this."

"Uh, I'd do the same things I already do when you get captured or injured - whatever it took to rescue you and then hunt down the person responsible for hurting you and kill them." At Obi-Wan's mildly disapproving look, he sighs. "Fine, take them into custody if possible. But I would keep doing that even if nothing else happens between us. Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same for me." Anakin stares challengingly at the older man; in this, at least, he has always felt confident.

"You know I would," Obi-Wan affirms and Anakin can't help a flutter of giddiness.

"So you see, this wouldn't change anything. There's no reason why we shouldn't do this! Plus it'll relieve stress which will make us better Generals!" Anakin says triumphantly.

Obi-Wan sighs, looks down like the floor has the answers he's seeking, rakes a hand through his hair, and mutters something that sounds like, "No regrets, Kenobi. Either one of us could die any day in this blasted war." Then he meets Anakin's eyes and decisively wraps a hand around the nape of Anakin's neck and pulls him down for a kiss.

Anakin feels a thrill of pleasure at both the kiss itself and at winning an argument with Obi-Wan. He closes his eyes and lets himself sink into Obi-Wan's lips and touch, wrapping his arms tightly around the other man's back. Obi-Wan rests his free hand on his hip and starts shuffling the two of them towards the master bedroom - Obi-Wan's room, which is both bigger and the neater of the two. Anakin knows that they still have a lot to talk about, especially if this is going to be a regular occurrence (and he does plan on making this a regular occurrence).

But for now, Obi-Wan's dinner sits forgotten behind them in the kitchen while the two of them lose themselves in each other and forget about the rest of the world for a couple of hours.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after: In which Obi-Wan and Anakin have a serious conversation...in bed.

Obi-Wan wakes tangled in bedsheets (his) and limbs (some his, some not). He has a moment of disorientation and then memories from the night before flood back. He flushes and feels a mix of mortified and sheepish and yet satisfied and if Anakin wasn't sleeping on his hand, he'd be tempted to pinch the bridge of his nose in exasperation. But—Obi-Wan glances down at the head of tousled dark blond hair resting on his chest with affection—he is, so Obi-Wan contents himself with a mental put-upon sigh, though even that is tinged with fondness.

_ Kenobi, what were you thinking? _ He's well into his fourth decade; he should have enough self-control not to jump into bed with his former Padawan. But Anakin always was his exception; he probably always will be. The other man makes his own rules and seems able to even bend the will of the galaxy to his desires at times. Obi-Wan supposes that that's due to his absurdly high midichlorian count.

Then he sobers, remembering the other issue they had clashed over before they'd ended up in bed. He'd known that Anakin wasn't coping well with his appointment to the Council, of course, but he hadn't realized the extent. Anakin had been so pleased at his Knighting and had thrived so much on having full autonomy (even though the Council chided him on his rashness more often than not) that when they had been paired back together for a couple of joint missions, the dynamic between them had already felt different even though it had only been a couple of months. There was no longer that underlying restlessness and frustration that had emanated from Anakin in those last years of his Apprenticeship; he seemed more settled in his skin and confident of his place in the Order. And without the worry of having to teach Anakin the  _ right _ things, Obi-Wan had been able to relax himself.

They'd been able to debate over the exact meaning of their orders, their mission objectives, their ideas for approaches, and even, once, their interpretations of the Code without biting each other's heads off. It was refreshing. Obi-Wan hadn't realized how much of his opinions Anakin had been holding back during his training but it was evidently quite a bit. He had started encouraging Anakin to voice his thoughts out of curiosity but found himself truly enjoying their discourses and initiating them for their own sake. It wasn't, to be honest, something he had expected to ever be able to have with his sometimes-surly now-former Padawan.

Things had gone very well for a time and Obi-Wan had thought that they were progressing from a Master and former-Padawan relationship to a friendship between equals. But then he was elected to the Council and while Anakin had enthusiastically congratulated him and teased him about being "old enough to be considered wise," there were days when Anakin seemed to resent everything Obi-Wan said to him, whether they were Council orders or not.

"Obi-Wan, I can practically hear you thinking," the subject of his contemplation groans, breaking into his thoughts. "It's far too early for that beautiful brain of yours to start working. Can't you stop it?" He shifts his body closer, though Obi-Wan can't fathom how he even found the space to do so, and rubs his cheek against Obi-Wan's chest. Metal fingers skate lightly over his abs and side.

"Sorry, dear one, you know I'm an early riser," Obi-Wan says with a small smile, willing his preoccupations away. His voice comes out a little scratchy and he blames their activities of the night before; hearing it makes him aware of the languidness and the pleasant soreness of his muscles that follow a round of...well, rather a different kind of exercise than fighting in a battle.

"Well, what are you thinking about then?" Anakin mumbles, sounding a little sleepy still.

"Us, actually. Here, budge up a bit so I can move my arm. You're quite heavy, you know."

"Hey!" Anakin complains lowly but shifts anyway. Except he moves so that instead of curling up against Obi-Wan's side (and on top of his right arm), he's lying almost all the way across his chest. He also entangles their legs together even more and Obi-Wan gives up on the possibility of getting up any time soon.

"Oh yes, this is really much better," Obi-Wan snarks. But he does stretch his now free arm out with a sigh of relief and lets it drape over Anakin's back. He can feel the other man smirk against his skin and press a kiss over his heart. Obi-Wan rolls his eyes. "You're almost more trouble than you're worth."

"Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure I'm worth quite a bit. Or at least the Seps seem to think so." Anakin teases but now that Obi-Wan's listening more closely, he detects a hint of insecurity under it.

"You are worth more than quite a bit," he says seriously rather than continue the light-hearted banter. He thinks that it's perhaps time he and Anakin stopped talking around things with witty comebacks and sarcasm.

Anakin's breath hitches—it's very slight and if he wasn't almost completely wrapped around him, Obi-Wan doubts he would have picked up on it. "Oh," he says softly. He pauses and the fingers of his prosthetic move up to trail along Obi-Wan's arm. Then he asks almost hesitantly, "So what was it about us that you were thinking about? Are you...having second thoughts? Regrets?"

"No, not that," Obi-Wan says firmly, squeezing his other arm tight around Anakin. He gets a small thrill at the skin to skin contact but sets it aside as a distraction he can't have right now. "I was thinking that you were right last night. We don't talk much. As just us. And we should, because I'm getting the sense that there's a lot we're not saying to each other." Anakin's fingers twitch against his arm and he draws in a sharp breath. Obi-Wan hurries to say, "I'm not saying you  _ have _ to tell me  _ everything _ . Not if you don't want to. But if we don't start talking again, we'll be divided. And—"

"—that makes us weak," Anakin finishes. Obi-Wan nods, though he knows that Anakin can't see it since his face is still turned away, towards his metal fingers which idly flex and resume their light stroking of Obi-Wan's skin.

Both of them stay quiet for some minutes, but it's a thoughtful silence that descends on them.

Eventually, Obi-Wan decides to broach the longest-standing issue. "You don't like that I'm on the Council."

"What?" Anakin asks, sounding genuinely startled. "No. Well, kind of. But it's not...I mean..." he trails off and Obi-Wan quirks his lips in a wry grin while he waits for him to gather his thoughts. Typical Anakin, speaking first and then thinking after. "I think it's great that you're on the Council. You're the best Jedi in the Order and you've got more field experience than anyone else on there. They're lucky to have you," Anakin finally says.

"And yet?" Obi-Wan prompts. He decides to set aside Anakin's perception of him being the best for now; there are far greater Masters than him in the Order but he can correct him later. There are more important matters they need to clear up first.

"And yet...I don't like that I have to answer to you again," Anakin says slowly. Then he tenses and his voice starts climbing when he speaks again. "You were the only person in the Temple I could really talk to and now every time I talk to you, I feel like I'm talking to a member of the Council instead of just you and I have to be careful of what I say or else I could get pulled up in front of the full Council to be reprimanded! It isn't fair! They could have taken anyone else, any other Jedi, but no. It had to be you. Of course it had to be you. They never wanted you to train me to begin with. They probably think they need to keep you away from my  _ dangerousness _ !" He stops abruptly on a shout, breathing harshly. His hand closes into a fist and thumps down against the mattress. The Force seems to gather itself and loom over them, waiting for release.

Obi-Wan waits, keeping his heartbeat and breathing calm and steady, while Anakin forcibly takes deep breaths and flattens and flexes and flattens his hand against the bedsheets. Gradually, the build up in the Force ebbs away. "Anakin, look at me," he requests when it feels like Anakin has his emotions back under control.

Anakin grumbles but shifts around so that they're chest to chest and props himself up with his arms on either side of Obi-Wan. A distant part of him appreciates the bulge of Anakin's biceps and the golden tone of his skin. The sheets are still tangled hopelessly around their legs and probably this is not the best setting for a conversation like this but it's a bit late to change that. He wrenches his thoughts back onto the appropriate path because Anakin's looking at him with a quirked eyebrow and defiance shining in his eyes.

"When we talk, it's just you and me. Anything personal you have to or want to say to me will stay between us, I promise. I don't report our conversations to the Council unless they're directly related to mission objectives. I'm sorry that I didn't make this clear to you earlier, Anakin. I'm on your side. I always have been and I always will be. You can trust in that. The Council isn't taking me from you. There's no way that they could even if they were trying to." He holds Anakin's intense gaze, trying to send his complete sincerity to the other man through the thin remnants of their old training bond. He can't, at this point, do anything about being on the Council (even though he hadn't ever thought he would be on it and sometimes isn't certain that he  _ should _ be on it, it's already been years and he's helped with long-term strategy planning so leaving now would be a dereliction of duty that he refuses to commit) but he resolves to keep that role separate from his personal interactions with Anakin.

Anakin finally jerks his head in a sharp nod and looks down. He stares contemplatively at the dip in Obi-Wan's throat and Obi-Wan can feel the atmosphere in the room changing. He doesn't know if Anakin is deliberately trying to avoid further conversation or if this is just one of his usual mood changes. But when Anakin looks back up at him again, his eyes are indeed darkened and hooded, pupils dilated with desire. The Force feels heated around them. He smirks, licks his lips, and slowly grinds his hips down. Obi-Wan sucks in a breath, feeling himself responding to Anakin's growing hardness quicker than he would have thought possible. He briefly considers trying to resume their conversation but he suspects that whether or not this change in direction is conscious on Anakin's part, it's a sign that the other man's had all the emotional talks he can handle right now.  _ And frankly, so have I _ , Obi-Wan thinks. They should meditate and release their residual feelings into the Force but well, maybe this time, they could try releasing tension in a more enjoyable way.

"You're going to be the death of me," he mutters as he clasps one hand on Anakin's shoulder to ground himself. It's a good thing he's already laying down, a part of him thinks giddily, or else he'd have gone lightheaded from the sudden rush of blood down to his groin.

Anakin chuckles and leans down to take his lips in a kiss that's gentler than the ones they'd shared the night before.

Obi-Wan lets himself revel in the moment until the kiss ends and then he lightly squeezes his shoulder to get his attention. "Just one thing," he says when he has it.

"Mhm?"

"This is important so I want you to remember it. If ever we're being intimate and I suggest something or do something that you don't like or aren't comfortable with, I want you to tell me."

"Yeah, okay."

"Right away, Anakin," he says with emphasis.

"Do you really think there's something you could do that I wouldn't like?" Anakin asks, looking mildly amused.

Obi-Wan raises his eyebrows in mock consternation. "There's a lot that can be done between two people, Anakin. Are you saying you've tried them all?"

"Are  _ you _ ?" Anakin looks like he's torn between delight and scandalized.

"I guess we'll just have to find out," Obi-Wan says with a smirk of his own. He tugs Anakin into another kiss and thinks that this is worth the trouble they're going to get into when the Council finds out. A small but growing part of him thinks that actually, this could be worth leaving the Order for. One day.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Obi-Wan almost finds out about Anakin and Padme and Anakin plans a date to distract him.

By the time they finally get out of bed, it's nearly midday and their stomachs are grumbling. Obi-Wan uses the 'fresher first while Anakin goes to check on and discard the leftover stew. The thought of throwing out food still makes him want to cry but Obi-Wan had used minkweed root as usual (great for adding flavor but leave it in too long and it becomes so bitter that it makes the whole meal inedible). He checks their mostly empty cabinets and makes the executive decision that they'll eat in the commissary just this once.

His comlink beeps while he's contemplating joining Obi-Wan in the shower (on the one hand: Obi-Wan; but on the other: the Jedi didn't design their showers for two people to share at the same time and Anakin had spent enough time trying to work out the possible logistics during his Padawan days to accept that they wouldn't both fit comfortably).  _ Maybe the one in Padmé's apartments _ , he muses. He tracks his communicator to where it's buried under a black synthleather tunic and grins brightly when he sees who's calling.

"Padmé!" he greets as soon as the call connects and Padmé's image appears. The Senate must be taking their midday recess. She looks a little frazzled but happy and relieved to see him. "I'm sorry I left without a goodbye last night!" he hurries to explain. "You'll never believe what happened. Somehow I got the idea that Obi-Wan was sleeping with Bail—" There's a sudden choking sound through the communicator and then the image shakes as someone presumably snatches it from Padmé. He can hear her chuckling in the background.

Bail Organa's form appears, looking a little wild-eyed. "Knight—I mean General—Skywalker, I can assure you that there is nothing untoward going on between General Kenobi and I. We simply respect each other as colleagues and servants of the Republic. I'm a happily married man, you know, and I would never do anything with the General."

Anakin's happy that Bail seems to be aware of where the boundaries are with respect to Obi-Wan but is that a slight against his former master? He narrows his eyes and frowns. "Why not? Are you saying he wouldn't be a good partner?"

"No!" Bail hastens to respond. He looks to the side like he's hoping Padmé will step in. "It's not that. I'm sure he's a great partner. Just not...you know, for me."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that, Senator," Anakin says, appeased. "And no worries, Obi-Wan reassured me that it was just a misunderstanding."

Bail nods a little and hands the communicator back to Padmé who says to him, "Why don't you go on ahead, Bail? I'll join you and the others when I've finished speaking with General Skywalker." Anakin hears the Alderaan senator murmur a farewell and then Padmé turns back to him. "I'm sorry, Ani. I didn't think you would be free to pick up the call so I was just planning to leave a message or else I would have called in private."

"It's okay," Anakin says, waving a hand. He'd meant what he told her earlier, that he didn't care anymore if people found out about them. Speaking of, though: "I want to tell Obi-Wan about us."

"Oh?" Padmé quirks an eyebrow in surprise. "What changed your mind?"

"We got to talking yesterday—really talking. And I just, I don't know, I don't want to keep hiding this from him."

"Well, I'm glad," Padmé says with a smile. Then she tilts her head in thought. "You seem different. Did the talking lead to....?"

"Oh, yeah," Anakin admits sheepishly. "You were right. He does care about me. Enough to break the Code, even! We made love last night. He said he loves me!"

Padmé's eyes soften. "Of course he does. How could he not?"

Anakin shrugs, not knowing how to respond to that.

"He'd have to be a blind fool not to care for you, Ani, and Obi-Wan is no fool," Padmé says.

"No, he definitely isn't," Anakin says, feeling a fond grin tugging at his lips.

"Listen," Padmé says briskly. "I have to go. The Senate's going to reconvene soon. I just wanted to let you know that today's session looks like it's going to be quite long and then this evening I'm hosting a Committee meeting which will likely go pretty late."

"So stay at the Temple tonight, got it," Anakin nods. He never likes having to do this, but Padmé's involved in several Committees and it isn't uncommon for them to schedule meetings at night in an effort to get everything done in the couple of months that the Senate is gathered on Coruscant.

"Can you come over for breakfast tomorrow? Maybe bring Obi-Wan?"

Anakin thinks. If he tells Obi-Wan tonight, he'll probably want to do morning meditations...or convene an emergency Council session to kick Anakin out of the Order....Anakin winces. "Better make that a midday meal. Just to be safe."

"Safe for what?" Obi-Wan's cultured tones speak up suddenly.

Anakin snaps his head up and sees Obi-Wan standing at the door of the 'fresher in a beige undershirt and trousers, steam wafting out.  _ Kriffin' hell, how long had he been standing there?! _ "I, um, well," Anakin splutters.

"I'll let you go, Anakin. Have a good day, Master Kenobi," Padmé calls out and she doesn't even try to hide the amusement in her voice. Her visage blinks out but Anakin continues to clutch his comlink like a lifeline.

He doesn't know what to do, what to say. Should he tell Obi-Wan now? Would he take it well? Or would he take it badly? Anakin's hoping that he'll accept it, given what they had done the night before but what if it's  _ because _ of the changes in their relationship that Obi-Wan gets mad? Or what if he decides that he can't continue being with Anakin because of Anakin's marriage to Padmé? He doesn't know what he'll do if that happens. He'd spent so long dreaming of this, years of talking about this with Padmé—Padmé, who when they had gotten married admitted that she thought he and Obi-Wan were intimately involved. He'd laughed then (a little bitterly, he can admit now) and told her that as much as he may have wished that were the case, he was pretty sure Obi-Wan just thought of him as an annoyance and even if he didn't, he would never sleep with his own Padawan. Then he'd tried to let go of those fantasies and focus on his relationship with Padmé—something that he  _ could _ have, even if he couldn't tell anyone.

But then months later, he was Knighted and Obi-Wan had started looking at him differently and treating him like an equal and all the fantasies he thought he had rid himself of came back with a vengeance. Only worse because he knew Obi-Wan now in ways he never had as a Padawan. He was more relaxed around him, joked more freely, no longer lectured him about the Code. And suddenly, his fantasies weren't just of the sexual variety anymore. He wanted Obi-Wan in his life forever the same way he wanted Padmé. And now he's so close to having those fantasies actually become reality. He doesn't want to lose it. He can't. He thinks it'll destroy him if he does.

He focuses back on Obi-Wan, still patiently watching him from the doorway to the fresher. "Can I...tell you later?" he asks, licking his lips nervously and thinking quickly.

Obi-Wan lifts a brow which somehow conveys  _ oh no, Anakin, you're not getting out of this that easily _ and also  _ I'm pretty sure that whatever you're hiding, I wouldn't approve of it _ and lastly  _ but do you really think there's anything you could tell me that I wouldn't forgive? _ (That last one might just be wishful thinking on his part, though.)

"Not 'later' like 'never'. Really, just later. Tonight. I promise. It's just, I had, um, plans for today, and this is the kind of conversation that's gonna take awhile and I really wanted us to be able to spend the day together, just us. Doing...stuff." Anakin's aware that he's rambling but he can't help it. Obi-Wan still looks a little skeptical so he pulls out his best negotiating tactic against the other man: he widens his eyes and  _ pouts _ . Just a little. "Please, Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan maintains eye contact for a few seconds, searching for something in Anakin's own gaze; for his part, he tries to radiate innocence and sincerity like he hasn't since that time he tried to fix a droid and accidentally sent it careening throughout their apartment. It had nearly taken them both out and broke the windows and dented the walls in the process. That had not been fun to explain to the Quartermaster when they went to request a maintenance droid for repairs. Finally, Obi-Wan gives a small sigh and says, "Alright, Anakin. But don't think I'll forget to ask you about this tonight."

"I would never, Master," Anakin says and grins.

Obi-Wan quirks his lips. "Thought you weren't going to call me that anymore."

"I don't know,  _ Master _ . There is that one fantasy we could act out, of the naughty Jedi Knight being  _ reprimanded _ by one of the Jedi Masters on the Council...." Anakin teases.

"Force," Obi-Wan groans. "Don't tell me you watch those trashy holovids."

Anakin shrugs. "I think they're kind of funny. But no, I didn't watch this one. I just saw the summary for it."

"They're completely disrespectful is what they are," Obi-Wan fumes. "And no, we will  _ not _ be role-playing any of that bantha fodder. Ever."

"I know, Obi-Wan," Anakin reassures and starts making his way to the 'fresher. Obi-Wan relaxes at the use of his name and moves out from the doorway into the living area. Anakin pauses next to him, leans down, and brushes his lips softly against his. A thrill of pleasure runs through him. He can't believe he's allowed to do this now. He plans to take advantage of it as much as possible. "You should get dressed. I thought we could go eat in the commissary and then meditate in the Room of a Thousand Fountains. You've been talking about that for ages."

Obi-Wan widens his eyes in mock surprise. "So you  _ do _ listen when I talk."

"All the time. I just tend to only remember the personally relevant stuff," he says with a wink.

Obi-Wan rolls his eyes. "That I did notice. Well, and then what else do you have planned for this oh so busy day?"

Anakin hurriedly thinks about what else Obi-Wan has mentioned wanting to do and comes up with—"Just a sparring session. General Grievous is still out there and I know you had wanted to practice Jar'Kai."

"Grievous does like to use as many lightsabers as he has hands," Obi-Wan inserts. "It only makes sense for us to be able to do the same or at least defend against it."

Anakin nods. "Right, of course. And then, I thought we could go to Dex's for dinner!" he finishes triumphantly. Obi-Wan would never admit to having an attachment to an establishment but Anakin knows that he craves the home-style cooked meals and fresh brewed ardees that the Besalisk serves.

Obi-Wan's eyes light up a bit at that and Anakin can't help feeling a bit smug. "Well, then, shouldn't you hurry up and shower so we can get going?" Obi-Wan says and Anakin laughs and practically skips into the 'fresher. He dares anyone to even think for a second that they could know Obi-Wan and take care of him as well as he does.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a headcanon that the non-Jedi people who know Anakin and Obi-Wan (with the exception of Padme, of course) are under the impression that a) there's something going on between the two of them, b) Anakin's got a temper, especially when it comes to how Obi-Wan is treated, and c) Anakin is scary af when he's mad.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snippets of a date between Jedi.

The food in the commissary isn't the most refined in the galaxy but the familiarity of it is rather comforting in times of stress. Obi-Wan's found himself missing it during long deployments, though that could just be because anything is preferable to field rations. He and Anakin are sitting in their now-usual spot in a corner of the room, backs to the wall with full unobstructed views of the room and the entrance. There's only a couple of senior Padawans and Jedi Knights scattered around the room, looking haggard and worn, sitting alone and eating mechanically. It's a far cry from how the commissary used to be—loud, boisterous with the laughter and chatter of over a hundred Jedi of all ages. The silence feels almost oppressive but he and Anakin have made a studied effort to ignore it, though they can't help keeping their voices lowered.

"Anakin, you've already tried that!" Obi-Wan protests when Anakin (blatantly) misuses the Force to levitate a piece of tauntaun meat off of Obi-Wan's plate and onto his fork.

"I know," Anakin says with a wide grin. "But I really like this." He makes a show of chewing it and moaning lowly in appreciation.

Obi-Wan flushes. He glances around furtively in case anyone's noticed but the others all seem lost in their own thoughts. "Then go get a full serving of it for yourself!" he hisses.

"I like it better when it's from your plate." He flashes him a cheeky grin.

Obi-Wan sighs and goes to pinch the bridge of his nose but then the door opens across the room and a gaggle of Initiates spill in, jabbering at each other. They catch sight of him and Anakin immediately and break out into even more excited chatter. He can make out "Master Kenobi" and "Knight Skywalker" among their words and sighs again. "Oh, no," he mutters when the group heads straight for them. It's not that he doesn't like the Initiates; he's just not very good with them. Anakin, though, basks in their curiosity and attention. Obi-Wan sneaks a glance at him and indeed, he's watching the group with a bright smile. There's a bit of wistfulness in his eyes and Obi-Wan knows that he's remembering Ahsoka. Obi-Wan feels a tinge of nostalgia himself and a bit of regret for how that situation had ended. Anakin had been a great Master for the Togruta; it was when Obi-Wan was watching the two of them together that he saw not just how great of a Jedi Anakin had become but how great of a person too.

"Master Kenobi!" the first of the younglings pipes up. "May we ask you a question?"

Obi-Wan bites back a grin at their proper manners and simply nods, gesturing for them to take the seats around them. The group scrambles to obey and Anakin stifles a snort next to him.

"Master Kenobi, we heard you rescued the Chancellor! Was it very dangerous?" the first youngling asks when they're all situated.

"Oh, well. I'm afraid I can't take the credit for that. I was hardly of any help whatsoever. Knight Skywalker here did all the, ah, heavy lifting, you can say," Obi-Wan murmurs, remembering coming to in the elevator shaft being carried by Anakin.

"Master Kenobi's being far too modest," Anakin breaks in. "It was his plan to begin with. I wouldn't have gotten very far without him."

"Would you like to hear about the mission?" Obi-Wan asks. He knows full well that that's why they've come over but he's willing to indulge them. It was a successful mission and hearing about one of those is always good for morale, even if it's just the barebones non-classified parts of the mission. The Initiates all nod eagerly. "Well, it started when we got a message from the Council that we were being recalled from the Outer Rim because the Chancellor had been taken...."

 

* * *

 

In the Room of a Thousand Fountains, they select one of the meditative areas that are hidden within a grove of trees and near one of the smaller waterfalls. The water burbles gently over rocks instead of crashing loudly down from a great height. Obi-Wan finds that quieter background noise helps him focus on the Force and he's always hopeful that tranquil environments will help Anakin feel settled though it's had limited effect thus far.

They kneel in the traditional meditative poses close to each other—near enough to be aware of the other's presence but not so close as to intrude upon the other's meditation. Obi-Wan takes a deep, slow breath in and then out. In again. Out again. In again and this time when he breathes out, he opens himself to the currents of the Force around him. He's always had more of an affinity for the Unifying Force but for now, he recalls the teachings of his former Master and looks to the Living Force for guidance.

This new level of relationship between he and Anakin—it worries him, it feels overly indulgent, but it also feels inevitable in a way. Like everything they had been through has been leading to this development. There's almost a sense of breathless, weighted  _ expectancy _ around it, like the very fabric of the universe is waiting to see what they decide and will go down one path or another based on that decision. No. He wrenches his thoughts away from future possibilities and destiny and back to the present and, more pressingly, to the events of the previous night and that morning.

He combs through everything that happened, examines his feelings at every point, considers Anakin's and his own reactions and behaviors. His former padawan has always been prone to mood swings and extremes of temper; he swings from one end of the spectrum to the other like a pendulum and they last just as long. He doesn't know if this is simply a phase for Anakin, if he acted out of concern that he was losing Obi-Wan's affections but will revert back to his usual behavior when he's been reassured adequately of his importance to Obi-Wan and return to his affair with Senator Amidala. Obi-Wan snorts mentally, thinking of all the times Anakin had thought he was successfully sneaking around with the Senator behind Obi-Wan's back. He's a little disappointed in the Senator, actually. He'd have expected her to be able to be more subtle. But then again, it's impossible to completely curb Anakin's recklessness and the fact that they haven't been discovered by the public and made into the galaxy's latest fad yet  _ is _ quite impressive. Obi-Wan changes his mind and lauds her for her strong will and level-headedness.

Obi-Wan is fairly sure that Anakin's going to tell him about the Senator later that night; he hopes so, anyway. If the two of them plan on continuing on like this, there can't be anymore secrets like that between them. If not, then they need to end this before it becomes dangerous to them both.

He's interrupted in his musings by a gentle tug on the Force bond he's shared with Anakin since his days as a Padawan learner. They'd both shielded their ends of the training bond once Anakin was Knighted and with time and disuse, it had faded to just the barest of threads. He's a little startled that Anakin is reaching out through it now. In all the years since his Knighting, neither one of them had used it to communicate with the other, even when it may have been easier for a mission. On his end, he's been determined to give Anakin complete privacy and freedom to think and feel without worry of possible censorship; he doesn't know what Anakin's reasons have been.

He lowers his shields enough to send a formless query at the other man and gets back a wordless desire for closeness. Obi-Wan sends back an agreement and drops his shields. Almost immediately, he senses Anakin using the Force to revitalize their old bond. He channels his own strength into it as well and can tell already that the bond is changing. When they had first formed it, Anakin was untrained so it was mostly grounded in Obi-Wan's Force ability. It was still stronger than that of other Master-Padawan pairs because of Anakin's innate Force sensitivity but it didn't draw on his power at all. Now, though - now Anakin is the driving Force of the bonding. Obi-Wan lets him decide how strong he wants the bond to be and simply matches whatever Anakin is putting in, to keep the bond balanced between the two of them.

He expects that Anakin will stop weaving the bond at the point where they can comfortably communicate images, thoughts, and feelings to each other and even share some of the other's strength so he's surprised when Anakin sends to him,  _ I want to go deeper. _ He can sense that Anakin's paused in his bond making but feels hopeful that Obi-Wan will agree to it.

_ Are you sure, Anakin? Any deeper and you're going to be giving me access to your thoughts, even when you're not consciously sending them to me. _

_ I don't want there to be any secrets between us. _

_ Really. _ Obi-Wan thinks wryly, though he feels gratified that Anakin seems to be thinking along the same lines as him.  _ Then do you want to tell me whatever it is that you're planning on telling me tonight now instead? Because that is what will happen if you tighten the bond any more now. _

At that, Anakin hesitates. Through what's already been established with the bond, Obi-Wan can tell that he's grappling with conflicting desires and feeling equally torn between them.

Obi-Wan takes pity on him and suggests  _ Let's wait until after we talk tonight and reassess what we want to do. _

There's a sense of relief from Anakin as he concedes but he declares firmly,  _ My answer will stay the same. _

_ It doesn't have to, _ Obi-Wan thinks at him. He wouldn't be surprised, though, if it does stay the same; Anakin can be quite stubborn at times. Most of the time, actually. He snorts mentally and redirects his thoughts back to his review of his and Anakin's new intimacy. Distantly, he's aware of Anakin fiddling with the bond, radiating happiness and pleasure.

 

* * *

 

They use one of the smaller training rooms for their sparring session but manage to draw a bit of a crowd anyway. It's a mix of junior Padawans and injured Knights and Masters, loitering around the edge of the room and murmuring to each other. Anakin resolutely puts them out of his mind, though he can't help throwing a couple of extra twirls and spins and flips into his moves. Obi-Wan rolls his eyes at him for it but keeps his peace. They alternate wielding and defending against two sabers, voltage set high enough to sting but not enough to leave burns.

They throw taunts at each other and it's as much a verbal match as much as it is a physical one. And it's  _ fun _ . Anakin's missed this, more than he's realized. They do spar on deployment, of course, but there's limited room on the ships and there's always a sense of hyperalertness because they could be attacked at any time or are headed into a warzone. Here, in the heart of the Temple, they can relax and throw themselves fully into a friendly duel.

He meets Obi-Wan's eyes and grins fiercely, blood pumping through him and heart beating fast. The other man's eyes are alight with fire and there's a thin sheen of perspiration on his forehead; his hair is slicked back and darkened with sweat. He returns Anakin's smile with a bright one of his own. He looks beautiful and ferocious right now and if it wasn't for their audience, Anakin would tackle him to the floor and channel their energy and passion down a different path.

"Come on, then, Hero With No Fear! Won't you live up to your title?" Obi-Wan calls out sweetly, gesturing with both of the sabers in his hands.

"Why, General Grievous, I'm flattered that such an ugly collection of mismatched droid parts wants me so badly!" Anakin says with a smirk.

Obi-Wan barks out a laugh. "That's all you've got?"

"Well, excuse me, O Renowned Negotiator, he of the flowery prose and a way of saying nothing while talking for hours. Not all of us share your great talent."

"That's a tried and true tactic right out of Beginner's Negotiations, I'll have you know," Obi-Wan says and Anakin strikes. He leaps in and slashes down, trying to take Obi-Wan by surprise. He doesn't, of course. Obi-Wan brings up one of his sabers to block him and Anakin bears down on it with all of his strength, leaning close to the other man. It's a little distracting, actually, being that close. He has to fight the urge to lick a stripe along Obi-Wan's jawline.

"Are you  _ negotiating _ me, then?" he murmurs into Obi-Wan's ear instead.

Obi-Wan's face contorts as he tries to contain his laughter. " _ What? _ That doesn't even make any sense, Anakin!"

Anakin breaks hold and propels himself with the Force out of the path of Obi-Wan's second saber coming in on a downswing. He grins and shrugs. "You're just not as smooth as I am. It's okay."

Obi-Wan loses his battle for composure, then, bursting into chuckles. He steps back and waves his hand, saber switching off. "Let's break. I need water. Force, the things you say sometimes!" He switches off the other saber and tosses it idly into the air.

"It wasn't  _ that _ bad," Anakin protests. He doesn't think it was anyway and it made Obi-Wan laugh, so he's counting it as a win. He follows Obi-Wan's lead and turns off his saber. A Padawan runs up with two bottles of water and hands it to them, eyes shining in awe.

"Oh, thank you, young one," Obi-Wan says, looking startled. Anakin doesn't know how the other man has missed the hero worship that he gets from the Initiates and the Padawans but he think it's a rather endearing blind spot.

Anakin nods his thanks as well and chugs down the water. He tosses the empty container into a nearby bin. "Ready to go?"

"Yes, let's. I've worked up quite an appetite." Obi-Wan returns the extra practice blade they had borrowed and leads the way back to their quarters for a shower.

 

* * *

 

Dex is happy to see them, as usual, and even more so when they tell him that they're there strictly for good food and no business. He seems to know in one glance that something's changed between them because he claps them both on the shoulder, shouts a "congratulations!" and leads them to a private booth at the back of the diner. Then he serves them two plates of the chef's special but only one plate of dessert. With two spoons. Obi-Wan looks mildly mortified but Anakin's delighted. He spends the entire meal sitting on the edge of his seat so that he can casually knock his knees and feet against Obi-Wan's and rest his legs against the other man's. If he could have gotten away with holding hands, he would have. Obi-Wan tries to give him a stern look but Anakin can see the small smile nearly hidden by his beard. He reaches out and rubs a finger gently against the ginger colored bristles.

Obi-Wan pauses in his eating and raises a brow at him questioningly.

"I was just thinking that I barely remember when you didn't have this."

"I started growing it as soon as I was Knighted. I looked too young to have a Padawan of my own otherwise."

"I like it," Anakin says. "It makes you look distinguished. But I wonder what you would look like without it now."

Obi-Wan gives a small shrug. "Probably much younger."

"Hmm," Anakin says but leaves it at that. Out loud, anyway. Through the bond, he sends a sense memory from that morning: Obi-Wan kissing his way down his body, beard scratching lightly at Anakin's over-sensitized skin. He shivers remembering it; he'd loved the sensation, had gotten even harder from it and not just from the physical feeling of it but also from the undeniable reality that it was  _ Obi-Wan _ that he was in bed with.

Across the table, Obi-Wan flushes. With widened eyes, he hisses, "Anakin! That is  _ not _ an appropriate use of the bond!"

Anakin grins, unrepentant. "Sorry, Obi."

Obi-Wan narrows his eyes, takes a quick assessing glance around the diner and then Anakin suddenly gets a memory of someone biting down and sucking  _ hard _ on the skin of his right shoulder. He gasps when he realizes that it's Obi-Wan's memory from the night before. With it comes the ghost of a spike of arousal that Obi-Wan must have felt when Anakin was doing that. Anakin bites his lip to keep from groaning. He's glad Obi-Wan had liked that. He had liked marking the other man, leaving a visible reminder that he was  _ there _ and he intends to do it quite often. Especially now that he knows how much Obi-Wan enjoys it.

"Let's get back to the Temple," he says in a rush.

Obi-Wan chuckles, eyes dancing, but doesn't disagree. They leave a credit chip, call out a goodnight to Dex who's in the kitchen and collect their speeder. Anakin drives, as usual, though he does make an effort to adhere somewhat to the traffic rules. He spends the drive back with his gloved cybernetic hand clasped around Obi-Wan's. He feels genuinely  _ happy _ in an uncomplicated way, which is rare enough these days that he marvels at it. He doesn't want anything to ruin this but a tiny part of him is terrified that such a good thing can't possibly last. Not without conditions. He gets a bit somber when he remembers what they still have to talk about that night and hopes that it won't be the thing that ruins this.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More headcanons: Ever since Obi-Wan killed Darth Maul on Naboo, he's been a hero in the eyes of the Initiates and Padawans. He's the first Jedi to kill a Sith in a thousand years! I think that deserves a bit of hero-worship even from Jedi younglings. And even if that Sith didn't actually end up staying dead. But you know, the concept of a Sith is probably terrifying to children and then there was a whole war being fought and Obi-Wan was the Negotiator and that skill is something the Jedi value more than just fighting prowess. I bet there's a whole generation of Jedi who grew up wanting to be just like him. (Meanwhile, Anakin makes the Jedi look cool and badass to the general public and there's a generation of non-Jedi children who want to be war heroes just like him.)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things finally come to a head and Anakin and Obi-Wan work some things out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some spoilers from the Clone Wars here - specifically, the Mortis and Hardeen storylines so if you haven't seen those episodes yet, consider this your warning. I haven't actually finished TCW myself yet so please let me know if something I've written here contradicts what's there.

It's quite late when they get back to their apartment in the Temple. Anakin's been fidgety since they left the hangar and Obi-Wan bites back a smile when he forgoes taking off his cloak and instead starts pacing the length of their living area. The long dark fabric of his outer robe flares out every time he makes a sharp turn. On one pass, they nearly sweep some of the droid parts off of the low table in front of their couch and Obi-Wan muffles a snort. Anakin always has been dramatic about situations.

Obi-Wan calmly shrugs off his own cloak and hangs it up and makes his way over to sit. He can't help feeling mildly amused about the whole thing and briefly contemplates putting his former Padawan out of his misery and just revealing that he already knows about Senator Amidala. But he decides against it; Anakin, after all, has been keeping this a secret from him for Force only knows how long. He should experience the consequences of that for at least a little bit of time.

Anakin suddenly comes to a stop in front of Obi-Wan, crossing his arms tightly and looking nervous. "You had a good day today, didn't you?" he asks earnestly, eyes wide and so, so blue.

Obi-Wan smiles up at him. "Yes, I did. Thank you."

Anakin beams and then drops his gaze and takes a deep breath. His fingers tap restlessly against his forearm and he bites down on his lip. Anxiety spills out into their bond.

"Anakin, whatever it is you have to tell me, I promise you it won't change anything between us," Obi-Wan reassures the other man. There's really only so much self-inflicted angst he can stand to watch.

Anakin nods slightly and, staring at the prominence in Obi-Wan's throat instead of making eye contact, says slowly, "Padmé and I...we've been in a relationship. For some time." His eyes flick up at Obi-Wan and then away again.

"I know," Obi-Wan says simply. He chuckles a bit when Anakin's eyes fly back to stare at him in shock. His jaw opens and closes but no sound comes out. "I've suspected for awhile, Anakin. You are not a subtle person."

"How long..." Anakin croaks out and then pauses. Licks his lips. "How long have you known?"

"Since...oh, I'd say since that battle on Geonosis when we were all in the arena together."

At that, Anakin starts spluttering. "But that's—"

"—when it started?" Obi-Wan finishes wryly. There's nothing like a life or death situation to bring out hidden love confessions; he's had one or two of those himself.

"That was so long ago!" Anakin groans, dropping his head into his cupped hands. "And the Council?" he asks quietly, voice muffled.

"I haven't told them." A wave of relief washes through their bond. "It's not unusual for Jedi to conduct personal affairs with others, you know, even outside of the Order. You seemed happy and it wasn't overly affecting your performance on missions, so I didn't think it was necessary to report it. I'll admit I'm a bit surprised that you've kept it going for so long and that neither one of you has tired of the secrecy yet."

Anakin drops his hands and looks at him indignantly. "Of course it's still going on! We're  _ married _ ! We're not—"

"You're  _ what _ ?!" Obi-Wan breaks in. He pales and feels a bit faint. "Anakin, you got  _ married _ ?!"

Anakin straightens and stares at him defiantly. "Yes, I did. I love her. And she loves me! She's the only one who's always supported me for who I was and never tried to change me."

Obi-Wan can't help flinching at that. "Anakin, how could you have gotten married?! What about the Order?" He feels like he's been punched in the gut.  _ Anakin doesn't think I support him? He thinks I've been trying to change him? Is this why he never told me about her? _

"What about them?" Anakin's voice is hard.

"You made a commitment to them! You vowed to live by the Code! How could you break that?" Obi-Wan feels unmoored. "When did this even happen?!"

Anakin raises his chin. "After Geonosis, when I escorted her back to Naboo. The Code is wrong! How could it forbid love? Love is a positive emotion! It's not bad! You've said that you felt it yourself before! And just yesterday, you told me that you love me!"

"I have and I do and you're right, in and of itself, it's not a  _ bad _ emotion. But Anakin, letting emotions dictate your actions, that's dangerous! That's what leads to the Dark Side. And because of this  _ love _ , you've been lying to me and to the Council for years!  _ Years _ , Anakin! What else have you been lying about? How could I trust anything you've said or done or will say or do in the future?" Force, right after Geonosis! The two of them had barely known each other! How did he miss this? He should have been more wary, should have seen this, should have gotten a warning from the Force. Anakin had been obsessed with the Senator since he had met her and it was just like him to jump into a rash decision in an effort to hold onto something.

"Oh, you're one to talk about breaking trust and lying! What about that time you  _ made me think you had died _ ? You  _ used _ my emotions to sell the story! You made me watch your funeral! Do you know what that did to me?!" Anakin yells, eyes flashing. Anger floods into their bond.

Obi-Wan jumps up and points a finger at the other man. His remorse over that has been eating at him since it happened but he refuses to let Anakin use that as an excuse for his own behavior. "That was different! I did what I did for the mission! What you have been doing is  _ selfish _ ! Anakin, you never think—"

"Selfish! For trying to have  _ one _ good thing in my life? I don't have anything else! I left my whole life—I left my  _ mother _ —for the Jedi. And all they've done is treat me with suspicion and like I'm an outsider! Even though I've done everything they've asked of me! I went through the training, I got Knighted, I took on a Padawan, I completed more missions successfully than most of the other Knights and Masters combined, but it's never enough! Qui-Gon died before he could teach me and you—half the time, you weren't even around when I was younger. You left me at the Temple taking  _ remedial _ classes"—his lips twist into a sneer—"while you went on whatever solo missions you could get your hands on. And then when you  _ were _ at the Temple, you spent most of your time in closed door meetings with Master Yoda and Master Windu so I still didn't see you!"

Obi-Wan fights to hold onto some semblance of calm through the anger threatening to overwhelm him. He doesn't know if it's just Anakin's emotions affecting him or if it's his own or if, Force forbid, both of their feelings are feeding off of each other and being magnified. "Anakin, I didn't  _ choose _ to leave you at the Temple because I didn't want you with me! I was on reconnaissance missions hunting down leads on the remaining Sith. Those weren't appropriate for a nine-year-old boy and they couldn't be put off so the only choice was for you to stay at the Temple. Where it was safe! And yes, so that you could get caught up on classes. All Jedi younglings have to take those classes. They're essential for understanding the Force and the ways of the Jedi, though I can see now that very little actually sunk in. And it's not like I  _ wanted _ to have those meetings with Master Yoda and Master Windu! I was  _ mandated _ to meet with them regularly after Naboo."

"Why? Because they were  _ worried _ about me?! They never trusted me! They never wanted me to be a Jedi! Were they checking up on me? Were they trying to convince you to send me home?!"

"Not everything is about you, Anakin! It was  _ me _ that they were worried about!  _ Me _ that was under scrutiny! Because  _ I _ let my emotions control me in my fight with Maul and they were worried that I was going to Fall to the Dark Side!" Obi-Wan stops, heaving for breath. He hasn't revealed that to anyone besides Master Yoda and Mace. And he hadn't ever planned to tell his former Padawan; it had been hard enough trying to get Anakin to listen to him and respect him as a Master without letting him know just how close he had come to no longer being a Jedi himself.

"You - what?" Anakin whispers in shock. He stills and so do most of the turbulent emotions in their bond. He looks ashen. "No, that's not—you're the Lightest person I know."

"I'm really not." Obi-Wan rubs his hands over his face, feeling tired. "I had so much rage and grief after Qui-Gon's death. I barely managed to re-center myself during that fight. I really shouldn't have been the one to teach you. I had a hard enough time with my own emotions, I was in no place to try to teach you how to control yours. But I was always too headstrong and I was determined to fulfill the promise I made to my Master." His lips twitch wryly. "I had a strong attachment to him, you see."

Anakin shakes his head, looking a little lost. "You were a great teacher. I just—at the beginning, I didn't even know if you wanted me around and I missed my mom so much but no one here cared. No one understood, not really. Not even you. Probably not even Master Qui-Gon got it. He thought I could just leave her as a slave and be okay. Padme's the only one. She knew how important my mom was to me and she understood. She didn't dismiss my dreams of her. Even though we were too late, at least I was able to see her one last time before she died. Padme's even the one who made it possible for me to get to Geonosis to try to save you." He straightens suddenly and his eyes shine with intensity. "The Council would never have gotten there in time and they didn't even care! You had been captured and Dooku had a whole army there with him and who knows what he was going to do to you! But they wouldn't let me go rescue you, even though I was much closer than they were. They value their precious Code and their  _ protocols _ more than a Jedi's life! So yeah, fine, maybe I'm being selfish. Maybe I think a little bit of personal happiness is a good thing. Maybe I think that living beings are more important than ideals. All  _ you _ and the other Jedi think about is the mission! You don't even consider what would happen to the rest of us—to me—if something were to happen to you! How's that for selfishness! You act recklessly or you come up with these crazy plans and you get into these dangerous situations and it's like you don't care whether you live or die. Do you know how much that  _ terrifies _ me?"

"Reckless actions? Crazy plans? Are you listening to yourself?" Obi-Wan demands, incredulous. The miasma of emotions in their bond start swirling, picking up speed as they collide violently. Ripples echo out into the Force.

Anakin slashes a hand in the air sharply. "Yes, I know. I'm the  _ king _ of reckless stunts and crazy plans. But you know what, at the end of the day, I  _ have _ something to live for! I  _ have _ something to come back for! I'm not the one pretending to die or telling my wingmate to leave me to the tender mercy of buzzdroids!"

"Because  _ I'm _ not vital to the success of the mission!"

"Yes, you  _ kriffing _ are!"

"The mission  _ has _ to be completed. Lives depend on it! Your attachment to a select few is going to get a lot of others  _ killed _ ! I'm just a small piece of the big picture. Any Jedi could take my place—"

"No, they can't! You're NOT replaceable! Stop saying that!  _ Your _ dedication to the mission is going to get you  _ KILLED _ !" Anakin bellows. Their bond blows wide open and emotions buffet Obi-Wan on all sides: fear, anger, desperation, hurt...and love. The last is a bright shining thread winding through all of the darker feelings, tangling around some and piercing right through others. Obi-Wan staggers back a step from the force of it all and braces himself against the sudden torrent. Anakin's eyes widen and Obi-Wan can feel him trying to pull his emotions back.  _ No, _ Obi-Wan thinks at him desperately. He doesn't know if the thought makes it through the bond but Anakin has to release them, not hold onto them. They're almost toxic with how strongly negative they are and he fears what would happen if Anakin lets them keep building up in him.

Anakin doesn't respond and doesn't change what he's trying to do so Obi-Wan clasps a hand to his shoulder to strengthen their connection and then reaches through the bond himself. He winces as the storm of emotions tears at him but pushes through.  _ Anakin! _ He latches onto the other man's mental presence.

_ Obi-Wan? _ Anakin feels startled.

_ You have to let them go! _

_ I can't - I don't know how. _ He sounds pained.  _ It's too much! _

_ Together, then. _

They anchor themselves to each other and open a conduit between their bond and the Force. The collection of emotions wash through them and out. It takes seconds, maybe, but it feels like an eternity of struggling to stay afloat and not drown in it or get pulled along. Most of the emotions are Anakin's but some of his own anger and irritation and remorse are mixed in as well. He's always known that Anakin has strong emotions - every Force-sensitive being could tell that immediately; he has so much of it that it spills out even when he's shielding. But he's never seen them as strong as this onslaught. He wonders how long Anakin's been holding it all in.

When the flow of emotions dies down, finally spent, Anakin's knees buckle and he falls forward. Obi-Wan hurriedly reaches out and catches his other arm to steady him. Anakin leans into him, resting his forehead on Obi-Wan's shoulder and panting. He's shaking hard and some of his pants sound like sobs. Tears drip onto and soak into the fabric of his robes. He carefully releases Anakin's shoulder so that he can run his fingers through the curls at the nape of his neck and shifts his other arm to clasp it around Anakin's back, rubbing soothingly. Mentally, he closes the conduit and starts to disentangle both of them.

_ No, don't. Please. Not yet. _ Anakin thinks. His presence feels exhausted and raw and Obi-Wan feels ragged himself so he concedes and leaves them both connected for the moment. He wraps them in a layer of affection and feels Anakin's gratitude for it. Physically, Anakin reaches up and fists his hand in Obi-Wan's robes. "Why couldn't you just tell me?" he whispers, voice tremulous.

Obi-Wan doesn't have to ask what he's referring to. He closes his eyes, regretting his actions anew. As closely joined as they are, he knows that Anakin can sense it and he hopes that it won't trigger another emotional storm but this isn't a topic they can put off talking about any more. "Anakin," he starts, feeling helpless. "I can't...there isn't anything I can say to make that decision feel any better to you. I had thought, at the time, that to make my death believable, your reaction had to be real. And I had thought that for the sake of protecting the Chancellor, and therefore the Republic, my death needed to be believable. Had you known, you wouldn't have been able to fake the same level of grief and anger and Dooku would have seen through it right away."

"He saw through it anyway, didn't he?"

Obi-Wan's lips twist bitterly. "Yes, he did." All of that for nothing; he'd exploited Anakin's emotions and abused his trust and it didn't even help. It had been, by far, the worst decision he'd ever made. But what was done was done. He could only try to salvage what he could with Anakin. "But even if it had worked, it was wrong of me to do so."

"I know you would do anything for the Republic and for the greater good. It's one of the things I love about you. And it's one of the things that frustrates me about you. But I never thought you would choose them over me. It hurt to realize that you would. I wouldn't, I  _ couldn't _ ever choose anything else over you."

"No, Anakin," Obi-Wan says firmly. "I would never choose anything over you. I couldn't live with myself if you were injured or killed because of my actions. But I had thought that I had enough control over my attachment to you that I could let it go as I have so often advised  _ you _ to do for the sake of the mission. When you were fighting Bane on the ship and we crashed, though, I was terrified that you had gotten hurt. All I could think about was finding you and making sure you were okay. I had forgotten all about the mission. Had Moralo Eval been conscious, my cover would have been blown right then and there."

"It was still a shitty thing to do."

"Yes, it was. And I  _ am _ sorry, Anakin. There isn't anything I can do to make up for that."

Anakin takes a shuddering breath and the two of them fall silent for a couple of moments. "Was it really just your decision?" he finally asks.

Obi-Wan grimaces. "Yes, it was. The Council—they wanted to tell you. They thought it was too dangerous for you not to know. They were worried that your grief and anger would lead you to the Dark Side. But I knew you would be okay." He tamps down on the fear he's had of Anakin Falling ever since Mortis. He knows that all Jedi have the potential to Fall; given the right motivation and temptation, the Dark Side is hard to resist. He doesn't know what had lured Anakin to the Dark Side that time but he thinks it had to be something big. Something more than just the loss of his former Master. "There's too much Light in you for you to Fall," he iterates. It may not be rational but part of him hopes that just by reinforcing that over and over again, he might be able to keep Anakin from ever Falling.

Anakin shakes his head. "I came close. Really close. I wanted to kill Hardeen. I couldn't think about anything except how he had taken you from me. It was only because I knew you wouldn't want me to kill him that I was able to hold back."

Obi-Wan remembers hearing Anakin say that when he was arrested as Hardeen. At the time, he hadn't thought much of it. He knew Anakin would do the right thing. But now, he wonders if maybe Anakin wasn't doing the  _ right _ thing so much as he was just doing what he thought  _ Obi-Wan _ wanted, which  _ happened _ to be the right thing. It's a discomfiting thought. He sets it aside to meditate on later.

"The important thing is that you were able to adhere to my teachings and stay on the side of the Light, Anakin. I was and am very proud of you for that." He pauses and then forges on. "You know, Master Yoda didn't think that you would be convinced of my death at all."

"What?"

"He said that you had seen me survive worse and would know that something as simple as a blaster shot and a fall wouldn't have killed me and that you'd know something was off."

Anakin shrugs. "I—Maybe I should have but I couldn't even think straight. It was one of my worst nightmares, seeing you go down and not being able to save you. It felt like my whole world had ended. Even thinking about it now—" he stops, breath becoming shallow and quick.

Obi-Wan makes soothing murmurs and tugs lightly on the strands of hair between his fingers. Clearly, Anakin isn't able to talk more about this now. It occurs to him that if the situation was reversed, he likely wouldn't be able to handle it either.

The two of them stand there for awhile, just holding each other. Gradually, Anakin's breathing slows again. Obi-Wan feels a bit like he's just fought in a battle for his life; he can't imagine how Anakin's holding up. There's a sudden pounding on their door and a muffled voice calling out, "Obi-Wan? Is everything all right in there?"

He recognizes Bant Eerin's voice and winces. The Mon Calamari has quarters across the hall from them and must have felt the agitation in the Force. "We're fine, Bant!" he calls out, and is happy to hear that his voice sounds mostly normal.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, quite. We've got things well in hand here."

"Alright..." Bant says. There's a note of doubt in her voice and Obi-Wan resigns himself to having a talk with her later. It's been awhile since they've been able to catch up face to face but he hopes that she'll take him at his word and won't speak with Master Yoda about whatever she had felt coming from their rooms. He hears the distant  _ whoosh _ of her door sliding shut and lets out a sigh.

"Let's sit," he murmurs. Anakin grunts an agreement but refuses to let go so it's a little awkward maneuvering them both onto the couch. Anakin keeps one hand clenched in the folds of Obi-Wan's robes, clasps the other on his waist, and curls up into him, practically sitting in his lap. Obi-Wan himself still has one hand cupping the back of Anakin's head and he goes to move the other to Anakin's knee but stops when he takes in Anakin's twisted form. "This can't possibly be comfortable for you."

" 'm fine," Anakin mumbles, turning to bury his nose in the crook of Obi-Wan's neck.

Obi-Wan sighs again. "No, here, let's just—" he shifts Anakin over, brings his own legs up on the couch and stretches out on his back. Anakin settles half in the space between the back of the couch and Obi-Wan's body and half on top of Obi-Wan. He rests his left hand over Obi-Wan's heart and tucks his head under Obi-Wan's chin. Obi-Wan stares up contemplatively at the ceiling while Anakin finishes adjusting himself and Obi-Wan to his satisfaction. When he stops fidgeting, Obi-Wan says, "So. We are quite the team, aren't we? Secrets, lies, close encounters with the Dark Side...." He tries to inject a bit of humor into his voice to take the sting out of it.

"...I'm sorry," Anakin whispers. "I should have told you about Padmé earlier. But I'm not sorry for marrying her."

Obi-Wan sighs. "I didn't think you would be. But Anakin, that's quite a severe violation of the Code. There's a good reason for that tenet. You can't honor two commitments like that and do them both justice. Jedi dedicate their lives to the Order and to serving the Republic. That doesn't leave room for much else. And marriage - that's not something to be taken lightly, Anakin."

"I know that."

"Do you? How often have you been able to even see Senator Amidala since you've been married? It can't have been very often because we've been on missions almost constantly since the war started."

"We see each other enough."

"And have you talked about the future? What do you want to do? You can't expect to stay a Jedi and maintain a secret marriage forever."

"I—why not? I don't want to leave the Jedi."

"Well, it isn't fair to her, for one. And it won't be fair to the Order if you disregard your duty to them when there are Jedi relying on you. You're going to destroy yourself trying to hold onto both."

"It's been working fine so far," Anakin says a little petulantly.

"Has it?"

"Yes," he says firmly. "I won't leave, Obi-Wan. The Council will have to kick me out if they want me to go."

Obi-Wan sighs heavily. "But why not? Clearly, you don't agree with the Code and you've built a life, or at least the beginnings of one, outside of the Order. Why have you stayed? There  _ have _ been Jedi who have left; the Order's not for everyone."  _ Like Ahsoka, _ he doesn't say. But he knows that Anakin catches that thought. He hopes it'll remind the other man that it's okay to leave if he needs to.

Anakin doesn't say anything for awhile. Then, very softly, he says, "You."

"What?" Obi-Wan asks, startled.

"You," Anakin says more clearly. "Well, mostly. At first, it was because I had told my mother I would be a Jedi and I had to live up to that. I  _ had _ to. And then, after I was Knighted, it was because I couldn't bear the thought of leaving you. You needed me. There wasn't anyone else who would put you first, who could be relied on to rescue you when you get into trouble. I couldn't—I  _ can't _ —just leave and not know what you were doing or what mission you were on or what trouble you were getting into. Not getting to talk to you every day, joke with you, see you, listen to your delightfully sassy commentary on life. I tried to imagine it—Padmé wants us to live in her countryside home on Naboo to raise our child, you know—but I can't. The very thought of not being with you makes me sick."

Obi-Wan stills. He barely registers the last sentence. He's stuck on - "Child? What child?"

"Padme's pregnant."

He sucks in a sharp breath. "I...see. How far along is she?"

"....I, uh, huh. I don't actually know?" Anakin says with some embarrassment.

"Of course you don't," Obi-Wan says with a long-suffering roll of his eyes.

"I can sense you rolling your eyes at me, Obi-Wan."

"Good."

"I only just found out a couple of days ago when we got back! We haven't had much of a chance to talk about it. She's just told me that she wanted to go home early to get a room ready for it."

"It? I suppose that means you don't know if it's a boy or a girl either?"

"Uh, no, I don't. See? This is why I need you in my life."

"Are you sure it's even just one child and not multiples?"

Anakin shifts and tilts his head back to look Obi-Wan in the eyes; his own are bright and dancing with mirth. "Force, I hope it's just one! I don't know the first thing about babies, how would we take care of more than one?"

Obi-Wan smiles at him softly. "I'm sure you'll figure it out, Anakin. You're going to be a great father. I'm glad that you're happy."

"It  _ is _ really wonderful, isn't it?" he asks. He smiles but there's a strained quality to it.

Obi-Wan frowns. He thinks he detects...yes, there—a very vague underlying current of fear. It would probably be stronger if Anakin hadn't run through the emotional gamut earlier. "What are you afraid of?" he asks gently.

Anakin takes a deep breath. "I—ever since I found out about the pregnancy, I've been having these nightmares of her dying while giving birth. It's—I don't know what's going on but they feel just like the dreams I had of my mother before she died. Padmé doesn't think it's anything to worry about but I can't take the risk that these are going to come true too. I can't lose her! When I lost my mom—and when I thought I lost you—I just—" His eyes shutter and he takes a couple of quick harsh breaths.

"You...what?" Obi-Wan asks, feeling dread curling in him again. Force, just when he's started thinking they had gotten through the worst of it! Remorse and more fear start spilling into the bond.

Anakin shakes his head and whispers, "I lost it. I was so angry. When my mom died, I couldn't even think about anything except making the people who hurt her  _ pay _ ." He falls silent. Obi-Wan reaches up and covers Anakin's hand that's still resting over his heart. He gives it a squeeze and doesn't know if he's trying to offer comfort or trying to beg Anakin somehow to not say what it is that Obi-Wan thinks he's going to say. "It hurt, the amount of anger I was feeling," Anakin continues on. He flips his hand over and interlocks his fingers with Obi-Wan's. "I had to release it somehow. So I....I gave into it. I killed—I killed everyone in that camp. I don't even remember thinking about it or  _ wanting _ to do it. I don't even remember what any of them looked like. I just, I had all this anger and the only way I could get rid of it was to lash out. And then everyone was dead and I took my mom's body home but I was still so angry. And then I felt guilty too. And scared because I shouldn't have done that. That wasn't the Jedi way. Padmé—she talked to me, made me feel better. She said it was okay and that I was grieving."

Cold fear spikes in Obi-Wan.

"What is it?" Anakin asks sharply, brows furrowed.

"...Mortis," Obi-Wan answers reluctantly. The memories of that planet haunt his dreams on a near-nightly basis, though he hasn't brought it up with Anakin.  _ What is about to happen shall occur whether you like it or not _ , the Son had warned him at the beginning. And then what followed were scenes from a nightmare he didn't know he had—Anakin with amber eyes, Fallen and turned to the Dark Side; Ahsoka with amber eyes, Fallen as well and then dead; himself, desperate to save Anakin and worried that he was too late.

"That weird anomaly? What about it?"

"You had...in the period of time that you don't remember, you had turned to the Dark Side and aligned yourself with the Son."

"I what?!" Anakin gasps.

"I don't know why. By the time I got to you, I was already too late. I asked you what happened and you said that you had seen something. That the Jedi were standing in the way of peace. But you didn't say what had made you turn. And then you ran off with the Son and when Ahsoka and I caught up to you again, the Father had already erased your memory."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Obi-Wan shakes his head. "I didn't want to burden you. The future isn't immutable so it was entirely possible that you wouldn't turn again. And it's not something I like to think about. And yet, I can't stop thinking about it. I have dreams of you with yellow eyes sometimes. Just nightmares, not visions," he hurries to clarify when Anakin looks and feels stricken. "I don't know why you turned. I don't know how to stop it. And I don't know what to make of what you said about the Jedi. Was it the truth and we're going down the wrong path in this war?" It's not the first time he's had misgivings about their role in the conflict and he's not the only Jedi who's worried that the future is so clouded.

Anakin licks his lips and says slowly, "The Sith lie. It's possible that I was just saying that to make you doubt yourself and the Jedi."

"I know. But what if it was true?" He doesn't add the other piece that intrudes on his thoughts on a frequent basis: that at the end of it all, balance was achieved only by the death of both the Light and the Dark.  _ What a grim interpretation of the Chosen One prophecy. _ He desperately hopes that that isn't what the prophecy means.

Anakin shudders suddenly. "So, I turned on Mortis. And I almost turned when my mom had died. And I almost turned when I thought you had died. Obi-Wan, what if I can't stop it next time? What if I can't come back from it? What if I'm meant to Fall? I don't want to Fall!" he sounds panicked.

Obi-Wan tightens his hold on him. "I know you don't, love," he soothes. "We just need to figure out what the catalyst is." He's starting to have a suspicion, though, and he dreads having to share it with Anakin.

"It's losing the people that I love, isn't it?" Anakin says miserably, jumping to the same conclusion that Obi-Wan has made. "It has to be. There isn't anything I care more about in this universe than you and Padmé and Ahsoka. And I would do anything for the three of you. You were right. My attachments  _ are _ going to lead to the Dark Side."

"Maybe not," Obi-Wan says a little desperately. He'd give anything to be wrong about this. "After all, you  _ didn't _ turn when you thought I had died. And you didn't turn when Ahsoka left."

"But she's not dead. That was a different kind of loss. And my bond with her is still intact. It's weak but I can still feel it. And actually,  _ our _ bond must have still been intact when you were under cover as Hardeen. I still felt connected to you, I just had a hard time placing it at first. My grief must have been clouding it. But what do I do if one of you really dies? Why do the people I love have to die? I wish I could stop it. I  _ should _ be able to stop it. I'm the strongest Force user in living history. Why can't I stop death? There has to be a way!"

"Anakin, no. Thinking like that...it's blasphemy. Death is a part of life. Everything dies and returns to the Force. Stopping that process, not only is it impossible but it's unnatural. Even if you could do it, you shouldn't. You can't mess with things like that. It would rip the fabric of the universe apart."

"But then what do I do? I can't lose you. And I can't not be attached. I've tried but I just can't follow the Jedi teachings in this." Anakin bows his head and Obi-Wan can feel despair rising up in him. He makes a decision then and hopes that it's the right one. But it's the only one he can make, really. The Order will stand without him. Anakin may not. And Obi-Wan, he knows himself well enough to know that losing Anakin would destroy him. He can't let the Dark Side take him and taint the goodness in him.

"I know, Anakin. We'll figure something else out." There  _ are _ other groups of Force users out there, following different teachings and beliefs about the Force. Perhaps one of those would be more helpful. Fourteen years as a Jedi doesn't seem to have done anything for Anakin besides create confusion and inner turmoil.

"Okay," Anakin agrees. There's a sense of great relief from him and Obi-Wan has a moment of consternation that he can still have such faith in Obi-Wan. "I love you," he says suddenly, eyes shining as they meet Obi-Wan's.

He smiles. "I know, dear one. And I love you." Something occurs to him and he wants to kick himself for not asking sooner. "Wait. What is Senator Amidala going to think about this?" he asks, gesturing between the two of them.

"Padmé already knows. And she thinks it's about karkin' time. She's been wanting me to tell you for ages. She keeps coming up with reasons for me to tell you but I think it's mostly just that she's tired of hearing me whine about you."

"Anakin. Please tell me you haven't been talking to your  _ wife _ about wanting to fuck another person."

"It's not just  _ fucking _ ! I want you in my life. In every way. She's always known that. She probably knew that before  _ I _ knew that."

"And she would be okay with me being around while you're both raising your child?"

"Yes, of course. She wouldn't make me choose between you. Would you?" He gasps suddenly. "Do you not want this anymore?" His eyes widen with worry. Then: "You promised," he says fiercely. "You said that whatever I told you, it wouldn't change anything between us!"

"Peace, Anakin," Obi-Wan says, clapping a hand to Anakin's shoulder and squeezing gently. "Nothing's changed on my end."

"Good." Anakin nods firmly. "Then we WILL be okay." There's a sense of finality to it that echoes in the Force. Obi-Wan can almost feel the currents of Force shifting as if in response to Anakin's will.

"It's getting late. I need to meditate but you should try to get some rest," Obi-Wan says. He chuckles a bit at the face Anakin makes at the thought of more meditation.

"I don't know why you like to meditate so much," he mutters.

"It settles my mind."

"Well, I doubt I'll be able to sleep but I guess I can try. Don't—please don't block me out," Anakin says, tapping his head.

Obi-Wan quirks a brow. "With how strong the bond is now, I doubt either of us will be able to completely shield against the other anymore. But we do need to separate back into ourselves."

"Okay," Anakin says a bit reluctantly and lets him go when he pulls his awareness fully back into his own mind.

Obi-Wan pats him on the shoulder and nudges him over so he can move off of the couch. But instead of getting up himself and heading towards one of the bedrooms, Anakin just spreads out more on the couch and pulls one of the small pillows to him. He gets it settled under his head and looks pointedly up at Obi-Wan, who's still standing over him watching in amusement. "Yes?"

"Wouldn't you be more comfortable in a bed?"

Anakin shrugs. "Nah, I'm fine here. Besides, I like watching you when you meditate. You're like one of those sculptures in the Coruscant Art Museum, with the cheekbones and the jawline and the perfect muscles hidden under a couple of layers of robes. I'd sketch you if I had any artistic talent whatsoever."

Obi-Wan flushes. "Well, there goes my ability to meditate around you," he mutters. But he turns resolutely away and settles onto one of the meditation mats in front of the window which overlooks the city. It's nearly the middle of the night cycle so it's dark out but as always on Coruscant, there's a few places lit up and likely filled with beings from all over the galaxy. He gazes out at the scene for a moment while he sets his breathing into the proper rhythm and then he shuts his eyes and sinks into a light trance.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a headcanon (you might have picked up on it) that Anakin is so strongly connected to the Force that sometimes, especially when he's highly emotional, the Force reacts to him/reflects what he's feeling.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angsty thoughts, arguments about the Code, doings things with the Force that shouldn't be possible, teasing Obi-Wan, threatening a Senator, and engaging in PDA with his wife: a morning in the life of Anakin Skywalker (he's a really busy guy, okay).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout-out to mousieone for answering my question about the amount of time Anakin and Obi-Wan had been in the Outer Rim before being recalled to rescue the Chancellor!

Anakin doesn't sleep. He can't. Even though physically, he's drained to the point of lethargy and his limbs weigh like they're all made of durasteel instead of just the one, his mind won't stop racing and he can't let go of this fear that if he looks away, Obi-Wan might decide he doesn't want him anymore after all and leave (he knows, rationally, that Obi-Wan wouldn't just walk out, and these are his rooms too so where would he even go? But the worry makes his heart pound and his muscles tense regardless). So instead he curls up on their sofa and watches Obi-Wan kneeling on the mat and breathing steadily. True to his word, he hadn't shielded against the bond but Anakin's trying to respect his privacy and keep to his own thoughts; the bond feels peaceful and quiescent and that's the most important thing.

Eventually, he sits up and picks up some of the droid parts on the table. If he can't sleep for the rest of the night cycle, he might as well finish fixing their cleaning droid. Obi-Wan would say (and has said) that there isn't anything wrong with it but Anakin's pretty sure he can increase its efficiency and reduce its power consumption with just a few tweaks...that had required him taking it completely apart....and then they had gotten called away on a mission and the next thing he knew, five months had passed before they returned to Coruscant. Anakin winces. No wonder their apartment had seemed so dusty and stale when they got back. He had barely noticed, eager as he was to go back to Padmé's apartment.

_ Sorry, Obi-Wan _ , he thinks because the other man probably had to clean the apartment himself without a cleaning droid for assistance. He focuses his attention on the inner workings of the droid and lets his thoughts wander.

He likes working on machinery. It's easy, the connections make sense, the reactions are predictable. Droids just do what they're built and programmed to do. Some of them develop personalities, like Artoo, but they still work within a set of parameters. They have a function and a place in society and specific roles. Organic beings, on the other hand, are complicated. They have ulterior motives and hidden agendas and a million reasons behind their actions, many of which are completely incomprehensible to him. They all have different opinions and views on issues and they're all convinced that they're right. But there's billions of beings in the galaxy; they can't possibly all be right and yet they don't want to agree on anything.

And sometimes—oftentimes—it feels like everyone wants something from him. Or wants to tell him how to  _ be _ .

He had hated being a slave and he would die before he ever let himself be put back in that situation. But he had been able to think what he wanted and feel what he wanted and as long as he still did what he was told to do, nobody had cared. Ever since he had been freed, people have been wanting to know what he thinks and how he feels and then they pass judgment on whether he's right or wrong for thinking or feeling the way that he does. It's been just infuriating. Why should anyone have the authority to tell him if he's right or wrong in his own thoughts or emotions? He's a free man now, isn't he? And yet the Jedi do that all the time (it's tapered off some since he was Knighted but he can still feel them judging him even if they don't say anything). Padmé even, before they began their relationship, had told him that his feelings for her and thoughts about her were wrong. And even now, she sometimes gets upset with him for the things he thinks and feels and does. The Chancellor's been the only one who's always just listened to him when he voiced his feelings and never chastised him for any of them.

But Obi-Wan..that's always been complicated. Anakin had known, rationally, that Obi-Wan was his teacher and so was  _ supposed _ to tell him how to think and feel and act like a Jedi. He needed to know that, in order to  _ become _ a Jedi so that was good. But at the same time, every time his Master had corrected him, he had felt resentful and terrified that he was never doing well enough, that Obi-Wan was going to change his mind about training him, that he was going to send Anakin away, that he didn't like Anakin because Anakin wasn't the Padawan that he wanted.  _ That he deserved. _

Anakin's not stupid or deaf. He knows what the other Jedi—Initiates, Padawans, many of the Knights, and even some of the Masters—had said about him and Obi-Wan. Everyone revered his Master. He fought a Sith and defeated him. The first Jedi in a thousand years to do so. Not even Master Yoda could claim that honor. But Anakin? The others were not so accepting.  _ Why does  _ **_he_ ** _ get to be chosen as a Padawan? _ the Initiates had asked each other.  _ He doesn't even know how to use the Force! He hasn't gone through the Initiate Trials! He's only nine! _ and then  _ He's got too much fear in him. He's too old. He asks too many questions. He doesn't really understand what it is to be a Jedi. Obi-Wan should not have taken him as an apprentice. _ from the Knights and Masters. Anakin's hand clenches around a hydrospanner just remembering those whispers.

"Anakin, love, what's wrong?" Obi-Wan's hand gently wraps around his. Anakin darts his eyes up to meet Obi-Wan's concerned gray-blue ones, startled.

"Obi-Wan? Did I—I interrupted your meditation, didn't I? I'm sorry." Anakin bites his lip. He hates that even now, when he's trying to give Obi-Wan the space he needs to clear his thoughts, his feelings get in the way. "Everyone was right about me. I should never have become a Jedi. My emotions are too strong. I'm too dangerous." He almost wants to tell Obi-Wan to just go back to his meditation and ignore him but his former Master's sitting there patiently and he honestly cannot bring himself to turn away his freely offered attention. He's not a good enough or a selfless enough person to do that.

Obi-Wan pushes a stack of datapads aside and sits on the low table facing Anakin. He opens his mouth, to no doubt offer his usual reassurances, but Anakin hurries to say (because if he doesn't say it now, he'll never get the courage to bring this up again), "Even you said it." Obi-Wan's brows furrow in confusion, so he adds: "To Master Qui-Gon. After that first Council meeting. I heard you. You told him that I was too dangerous to train and that he should listen to the Council."

"I—oh, I did?" Obi-Wan looks taken aback. His eyes go distant for a few seconds before he blinks and refocuses on Anakin. "Anakin, I apologize. That was wrong of me to say. I was...unsettled by what had happened in the Council chambers and to my chagrin, I took it out on you and I should not have done that."

"Then why did you?" Anakin asks. He remembers the pang of hurt he had felt hearing that from Obi-Wan. He had no idea what he had done to the Padawan at the time, no idea why he would say that when Anakin hadn't done anything except what he had been told.

"Because," Obi-Wan says with a mirthless twist of his lips, "I was upset. I had been Qui-Gon's Padawan for twelve years. And I was quite looking forward to the day when he would recommend me to take the Trials. I thought it was going to be a momentous occasion, a time when he would look at me proudly and say that finally I was ready to become a Knight. But then, when it did happen...it wasn't what I expected."

"Because of me."

"Yes. But through no fault of your own. I just couldn't quite see that at the time."

"It wasn't even my idea! It's not like I  _ asked _ him to free me and train me."

Obi-Wan's mouth twists. "I know. When Qui-Gon got something stuck in his head, he could be as stubborn and as querulous as an eopie." Anakin snorts and Obi-Wan gives a small misty smile and then sighs. "I'm not proud to say this Anakin, but I had—I  _ have _ —a temper and I wanted to be angry at someone. I couldn't be angry at Qui-Gon so instead I blamed you. I apologize. It really wasn't fair to you. And then on top of that, I nearly succumbed to the temptation of the Dark Side  _ myself _ . It made me realize that I was potentially dangerous too. Certainly more dangerous in that moment than you were. And you know, when I was an Initiate, Qui-Gon had thought that  _ I _ was too dangerous to take on. He said I had too much anger. But in the end, he did it anyway. And look at where I am now. So perhaps having 'too much' of something isn't an insurmountable barrier to becoming a Jedi."

Anakin gapes. How did he not know all of this? (He does know how, actually—he'd never bothered to look. Obi-Wan had always just seemed to be a boring uptight Master who lived, breathed, and  _ was _ the Code so he didn't think it was worth the effort to try to get into the Temple records to learn about his past. He didn't think there was anything there worth looking at. Clearly, he was wrong about that, though. Very wrong. He's going to have to try to get into the Temple records soon.) "Is that why you decided to take me on?" he finally asks.

"I...no," Obi-Wan says with a slight shake of his head. "To be honest, Anakin, at that time, I was just thinking about Qui-Gon. That was his final request of me and however upset I was about his decisions regarding you, I felt that I owed it to him to trust his judgment about you and see his wish fulfilled." Anakin's heart falls. He'd always suspected that Obi-Wan hadn't wanted him but to hear it confirmed... "I wasn't capable of reasoning anything out then. I just knew that he wanted you trained so by the Force, I was going to train you. No matter what the Council said." Obi-Wan squeezes his hand and gives him a sad smile. "I cared very much about Qui-Gon—he was like my father. He would have made a great Master for you."

Anakin's not sure about that, actually. When he was younger, he used to think that all the time. Every time they had a disagreement or every time Obi-Wan gave him one of his lectures, he would wish that he had a different Master, a better one. And he did think about Qui-Gon a lot in those times. But then they had a couple of joint missions with other Masters, older Masters who were not Obi-Wan's friends who used to supervise him when Obi-Wan was off on solo missions. And he realized that as much as he thought Obi-Wan was distant and curt with him, it wasn't anything like some of the other Masters. They just seemed indifferent. They were polite to him, sure, but it was like they had some kind of impenetrable veneer blocking off their emotions about everything. He couldn't read them at all and he'd always been able to tell what others were feeling before. He had a hard time with Obi-Wan but at least there  _ were _ moments where he could read his Master. The others were like a wiped datapad to him. He can't remember if Qui-Gon had felt that way to him too but he shudders just from the thought that he might have had to spend ten years training with one of them instead of Obi-Wan, who he could at least provoke into feeling exasperated.

He used to worry that over time, Obi-Wan was going to become just like those old Masters and that that was going to be his own fate too and that terrified him, because his feelings were what made him  _ him _ . It was all he had that was truly  _ his _ . But so far, it hasn't happened and now that they're bonded even deeper than before, he can sense Obi-Wan's emotions. They had been faint at the beginning, when their bond was just established but ever since they had joined together to release that storm from their bond earlier, they've been coming through to him more strongly. He delights in them, in knowing with a certainty that Obi-Wan does care about him and more than that, that he  _ feels _ things even though he doesn't show it. Anakin vows to protect that, to ensure that Obi-Wan knows that someone values his emotions and doesn't think they're  _ too much. _ He feels almost angry at Qui-Gon for nearly turning down Obi-Wan as a Padawan because of that, which is silly because it had happened years ago and Obi-Wan doesn't seem to be holding a grudge.

"But Anakin," Obi-Wan breaks into his musings, "even though I didn't choose you, I don't regret being your Master. You've taught me a lot as well and your friendship has been invaluable. I wouldn't trade the last fourteen years for anything in the galaxy. It was an honor to teach you and it is an honor to fight next to you."

"Really?" Anakin asks, spirits lifting.

"Yes. Sometimes, I think I was meant to train you. Certainly, I wouldn't be the man I am today if you hadn't been my Padawan."

"Do you...still think that I'm dangerous?" He almost doesn't want to know, almost thinks that hearing it said out loud by Obi-Wan would make his fears too real. But at the same time, he feels like he  _ has _ to know.

"I think..." Obi-Wan says slowly. He's clearly thinking about his words carefully, almost visibly becoming the Negotiator that most of the galaxy knows. Anakin can't decide if this is good or not, that Obi-Wan is drawing on his diplomatic skills to tell him whatever it is he needs to tell him. "I think that we are all potentially dangerous to some degree. The Force is a powerful ally and with it, we can do a lot of good or a lot of harm. And sometimes, we can do a lot of harm  _ while _ trying to do good. That's why we have to be careful. You in particular, though, you are very strong in the Force, Anakin. Which means that your potential for either good or evil is greater than most. It's up to you to choose what path you want to take. But you must choose wisely because with that power comes great responsibility."

Anakin nods thoughtfully. He wants to do good. That's the easy part. It's  _ how _ that's the problem.

"Would you like to do a bit of joint meditation?" Obi-Wan offers. "It might help settle your mind."

Anakin nods quickly. The steadiness of Obi-Wan's mind is like a beacon to him. It always has been—offering stability and surety when his own thoughts are so chaotic, though they had rarely done joint meditation when Anakin was a Padawan.

"Come on, then." Obi-Wan pulls him up and guides him over to the mats. Anakin settles in next to him. They keep their hands joined as they synchronize their breathing and reach for each other through their bond.

It feels like a different world when he enters the bond this time. He had panicked earlier when his wild emotions had spilled out into it, worried that they would somehow damage the bond or taint it. But it's humming contentedly now and almost seems to glow softly in his mind's eye. He thinks that's likely Obi-Wan's influence. He may have had brushes with the darker emotions but he's rooted in Light and that's clear for anyone with any Force sensitivity at all to see (and even some without). Anakin still has trouble believing that Obi-Wan had touched the Dark Side. He would never have suspected it; the other man had always seemed the perfect Jedi to him and without equal.

_ I don't know whether to be flattered by that thought or alarmed that you seem to have me on some kind of pedestal, _ Obi-Wan thinks at him wryly.  _ I'm not a legendary hero who can do no wrong, you know. _

_ Yes, I know, _ Anakin responds.  _ But that doesn't mean I can't admire you, right? _

_ There's nothing to admire. Anakin, I'm not 'perfect.' No one is. Eventually, I'm going to do something that you won't find perfect. I already have, haven't I? _

_ I....yes, that's true, but.... _ Anakin struggles to put his feelings into words.  _ But I...I don't know. It's like part of me knows that you do things sometimes that makes me karkin' mad and want to kill you. But part of me still thinks that you can't do anything wrong. _

_ And then you get mad or frustrated about getting mad, _ Obi-Wan concludes.

_ Well, yes. _ Anakin's startled.  _ How did you know? _

_ Because I used to be the same. _

_ What? But you've always said that Jedi don't get mad or overly emotional. And you didn't seem to. So I thought that I shouldn't either. _

_ It's not that Jedi don't feel at all. That would be impossible to do. It's that we don't hold onto those feelings. We don't let them fester in us and build up and start influencing our actions. We release them into the Force. I did and still do get emotional but I've learned to let them go instead of dwelling on them. _

_ But they're  _ my _ emotions. Why do I have to get rid of them like they're something I should be ashamed of? _ he asks. It's an age-old question of his and he's never gotten a satisfactory answer.

_ Because if you act on your emotions, you risk making poor decisions whose consequences you haven't fully considered. And those rash decisions can lead to people getting hurt or killed. Especially if the emotions they're based on are rooted in anger and fear. So you have to let them go and make reasoned, rational decisions, keeping in mind the greater good. _

_ But what about the positive emotions? If you cut them out too, if you cut out all emotions, you're not really _ living _ , are you? You might as well be a droid. Why must the Jedi be emotionless? We're living creatures, we're meant to feel things. _

_ Because the Code says - _

_ The Code should be changed! If even you have trouble following it, then maybe it's not right. _

_ Anakin, I am not the epitome of a Jedi. The Code can't and shouldn't be changed just because one or two Jedi can't live by them. Those who do live by it are Jedi. Those who choose not to or can't aren't. That's just how it is. The Jedi live to serve the greater good, they don't live for themselves. _

_ It doesn't make any sense! Why can't you do both? _ The familiar circles they're going in is making him frustrated and he's certain that Obi-Wan's picking it up. There are some minor differences in the argument this time, though—namely that now he knows that Obi-Wan has experienced similar struggles with his emotions. It makes him even more frustrated, actually, that Obi-Wan is such a stickler for the Code when he  _ knows _ why Anakin's having trouble with it.

_ Let's hold on this for now. This isn't what I meant by settling your mind. I wanted to show you something, _ Obi-Wan sends to him. Anakin doesn't have a chance to respond before he has the disorienting feeling of being  _ pulled _ somewhere and then he finds himself floating in a vast space filled with swirls of color. He can sense Obi-Wan next to him, though he can't see him. The Force is all around them. It's bright and iridescent and  _ endless _ .

Anakin gasps.  _ The Unifying Force! I'd forgotten how beautiful it is. _ Obi-Wan had showed this to him once, long ago, when Anakin had just become a Padawan and he was explaining the differences between the Unifying Force and the Living Force. "It's all the same, of course, just a slightly different perspective," Obi-Wan had told his nine-year-old self. "But some Jedi are more attuned to the Force that's found in living beings and others tend to see the Force on a broader scale. Qui-Gon was more of the former and I'm more of the latter. I suspect that you are more grounded in the Living Force as well."

Obi-Wan had been right; Anakin is very strongly attuned to the Living Force. Strongly enough that he doesn't even think about the Unifying Force most of the time.

_ You remember what I told you about the Unified Force view? _ Obi-Wan asks, breaking into his reminiscences.

_ That there's no clear distinction between Light and Dark and that it's all on a continuum, _ Anakin recites obediently.

_ Yes. Individuals can be Light or Dark, though most are somewhere in between. But the Force encompasses everything. All life. And so in the grand picture, it's more of a multicolored gradient than a black or white scale. _ Obi-Wan does something to turn them around and Anakin finds himself looking at a condensed, shining silver stream of Force energy in the midst of the colored clouds. It stretches on as far as he can see.  _ That's the past. The ribbon is made up of all the decisions that had been made to bring us to the present. The possibilities, the what-could-have-beens permeate the space around it. _ He spins them again and Anakin notices that the silver stream ends right where they're at, though he can just make out small specks of color continuously joining the end.  _ The ribbon is constantly being lengthened with each decision that's made in the universe. It's hard to get a clear look into the future. Some Masters used to be able to look out into the clouds and make out some of the possible future paths. But these days, it's hard to glimpse even the immediate future possibilities. There are so many big decisions being made on a daily basis, so many factors coming into play with this war that affects billions of lives across the entire galaxy that those of us who try to look just see this. _

Anakin gives a mental nod. He's heard Master Yoda grumbling many times about how clouded the future has been since the war started.

_ But the colors are a good sign. They're vibrant and mixed. The philosophers believe that if the future was headed down a Dark path, the colors of the Force would be muted. _

_ So you can't make out any individual paths? Can't see if someone will go Dark or not? _ Anakin asks, wondering if he could get an answer to his worries, at least.

_ No _ —Obi-Wan starts but colors start streaking by them and the end of the silver ribbon draws close as if they had pulled right up to it in a star cruiser.  _ Oh? What's this? _ Obi-Wan wonders.

Something catches Anakin's eye and he leans forward to get a closer look. There's a single, thin strand that shines brighter to him than the others.  _ That's me, _ he thinks at Obi-Wan. He doesn't know how he knows but he does. That strand resonates with him and the light within it pulses as he watches.

_ Are you certain? You shouldn't be able to make out any individual's Force signature here. _ Obi-Wan sounds stunned but also a little awed.

Anakin's not really paying attention, though. He snags a metaphorical hold on the strand and follows it. He can sense Obi-Wan trailing behind him, watching in fascination. The strand turns out not to be just one strand but a multitude of even thinner strands of all different colors. About half of them are reds and blacks; the other half a mix of whites, yellows, blues, and greens.

_ What does this mean? _ he asks, showing them to Obi-Wan.

He can somehow tell that Obi-Wan is studying the strands and the colors intently. He finally signals at the red and black strands.  _ These feel Dark to me. But these, _ he gestures to the others in Anakin's mental grip,  _ feel Light. And you have an equal amount of both. So I think this just means that you have an equal chance of going Dark or staying Light. _ All he can sense from Obi-Wan is academic interest and not any worry. He takes some comfort from that. He feels Obi-Wan's attention switch to him instead of the Force.  _ I think it means that you're not  _ destined _ to do anything, _ he reassures and with that comes a feeling of warmth.

_ Okay, good. _ Then something occurs to him.  _ Do you think Padmé's is here, too? _

_ I don't see why not. The Force is found in all living things to some extent, even though most of them don't have enough of it to be sensitive to it. _

Anakin tries to concentrate on the thought of Padmé, picturing her in his mind. For awhile, nothing happens. Then, a faintly lit strand catches his attention.  _ That's her! _ he sends to Obi-Wan and lets go of the sense of his own Force essence and grabs a hold of hers. As soon as he touches it, he knows that he's right. It's a thin strand and it feels more fragile to him than his own did. It too splits into a multitude of thinner strands though he's dismayed to see that unlike his, many of those come to an end very shortly.  _ This means that she dies, doesn't it? _ he asks. Grief threatens to swallow him and the light dims around him.

_ Anakin! _ Obi-Wan shouts, sounding alarmed.

He looks up and sees that the previously bright colors in the clouds have darkened.  _ What's happening? _

_ I don't know but perhaps we shouldn't stay much longer. _

_ Yeah, okay. _ He looks back down at the strand in his hand, feeling dejected. Why is Padmé destined to die?

_ Look, _ Obi-Wan says suddenly and Anakin can feel him reaching over and lifting the end of the strand from Anakin's mental hold. He brings it up higher and Anakin can now see that there are a few longer strands trailing past the rest.

Anakin gasps.  _ There's a chance! _ Hope suffuses him at the thought of being able to save Padme. She doesn't have to die! The light suddenly brightens around them and he looks up, startled. The clouds are once again luminescent.

Obi-Wan seems to be studying everything, including Anakin himself, thoughtfully.  _ Yes, but Anakin, don't get your hopes up too much. There are many factors that could play into whether she lives or dies and it's possible that there's no decision  _ you _ can make that would affect that. _

_ But there has to be! Why else would I be dreaming about it? _ He feels almost manic with his need to go and do something  _ right now _ . The lights start to flicker.

He picks up a spike of alarm from Obi-Wan just before the other man thinks,  _ Might I suggest that we get out of here now? I suspect that your strong connection to the Force is causing it to react to your emotions. I don't think it's a good idea to stay any longer. _

_ Wait, what about you? _ Anakin asks.

_ Anakin, no, you've already seen more than any Jedi can or likely should. You have to be careful not to lose yourself studying the possibilities. That's what Qui-Gon had always warned me about. It's easy to get lost trying to see the future, so much so that you lose track of the present. We should go. _ Obi-Wan tugs him away from the stream and gives him a gentle push.

He surfaces from the trance moments before Obi-Wan does and so he gets to watch as Obi-Wan, bathed in the morning sunlight streaming in through their window, blinks his eyes open and turn to him. His form is limned with a soft yellow glow and he looks ethereally beautiful. Anakin feels a sense of wonder looking at this man in front of him. How he got lucky enough to have two gorgeous people in his life, he doesn't know.

Obi-Wan quirks a smile at him. "What is it?" he asks, sounding bemused.

"Nothing. You're just...breathtaking. You're like the starbird, being rejuvenated in the heart of a nova."

Obi-Wan flushes. "Now who's the one speaking in flowery prose?"

"Nah, it's not flowery if it's true," Anakin says with a grin. Fondness fills him until he's brimming with it.

Obi-Wan clears his throat. "Well, it's quite a bit later than I expected. What time was it that we were supposed to meet with Senator Amidala?"

"Midday."

"Okay, yes, very good. I suggest that we start to get ready, then, and head over to the Senate Building." With that, Obi-Wan gets up and beats a hasty retreat to the refresher.

Anakin chuckles. "You're cute when you're all flustered!"

Obi-Wan huffs and flaps a hand back at him and then disappears into the refresher. Anakin grins, feeling a little giddy. He picks up the cleaning droid again and bends to his task with a lighter heart. He's  _ not _ destined to Fall and Padmé  _ doesn't _ have to die and he and Obi-Wan are still bonded. He feels like he's soaring high above Coruscant in his starfighter doing loops in the sky.

 

* * *

 

Anakin parks their speeder in the hangar of the Senate Building. He's been feeling nervous the whole flight over from the Temple, possible catastrophic scenarios playing themselves out in his head one by one. He tries to force his anxieties aside. Padme and Obi-Wan are two of the most diplomatic people he knows; if they do have a problem with each other, it won't come up during the meal anyway. But still. He desperately wants them to get along. He knows that they respect each other on a professional level, at least. He takes a deep breath and hopes that his worries aren't transmitting to Obi-Wan.

"Ready, my lovely starbird?" Anakin asks with a mischievous grin that only feels mildly strained. When in doubt, resort to light-hearted deflection. That was one of the most helpful lessons he learned as a Padawan.

Obi-Wan eyes him knowingly for a second and then groans in exaggerated exasperation. "Is this going to be a thing, now?"

"Whatever are you talking about?" Anakin asks, throwing himself into a close approximation of their usual banter and layering on the innocence in his voice. They exit the speeder and start making their way unhurriedly through the halls of the Senate Building.

Obi-Wan rolls his eyes at him but Anakin can see him biting back a smile. "The starbird comparison."

"I think it's a very apt comparison," Anakin defends.

"It's a creature of legend. How do you know if it's an 'apt comparison' or not?"

"Because I know my mythology. It's got wings of fire, a tail of gold and red, and blue eyes. That's definitely you." They call for a turbolift and wait with a few other milling Senators, most engrossed in worried discussions about the ongoing war efforts. Anakin tunes them out. He knows all too well the difficulties faced by the front lines; he really doesn't want to hear what a group of politicians who have never fought in battle before think about the war. " _ And _ ," he continues emphatically instead to Obi-Wan, "it's associated with the sun. So that makes it even more apt."

Obi-Wan splutters lowly. "What? That's a bit much, isn't it? How am I like the sun?"

The lift arrives and they enter, moving to one of the back corners. The other Senators don't look at them but their traditional Jedi robes guarantee that they're given a respectfully-wide berth. Anakin's glad for the privacy, or at least as much as one can get in a group like this. He keeps his expression schooled, hoping that everyone will think that he and Obi-Wan are discussing serious Jedi matters and aren't to be interrupted unless it's an emergency.

_ You burn bright and fiery, _ Anakin thinks at him. He sends a teasing touch along their bond, with a bit of affection mixed in at Obi-Wan's light blush.  _ You're essential for life but you can be harsh and burn it away too. Anyone who comes near you gets pulled into orbit around you and those who get too close get completely consumed. _

Obi-Wan frowns.  _ That's an...interesting analogy. Doesn't sound pleasant. And I'm not as intense as that. _

_ Oh, but you certainly are. You're magnetic. _

_ So are you saying you're at risk of getting consumed? Because I don't think anyone's quite as close to me as you. _

Anakin tamps down on the thrill he gets from that.  _ Well, I didn't say that being  _ consumed _ by you is bad. _ He throws in as much innuendo as he can into the words and feels Obi-Wan get a bit hot under his collar. He smirks.  _ And anyway, I've always been a risk-taker, you know that. _

_ That I do. _ Obi-Wan gives a long-suffering sigh.

_ I think I got it from you, actually. _ Anakin sends a burst of memories - of Obi-Wan jumping out of windows, charging into battles ahead of his troops, facing down raging beasts. His heart stops every time he turns around and finds that Obi-Wan's gone off and done something reckless without backup.

_ Oh, no. I'm not taking the blame for that. _ I'm _ not the one who was podracing at the age of nine. _ Obi-Wan doesn't have any direct memories of that since he wasn't at the race but he conveys the horror he had experienced when he had heard the story from Qui-Gon.

Anakin can't help the rush of happiness and pride he still gets when he thinks about that race. The first time he finished a race  _ and _ he had won  _ and _ it had changed his life.  _ It was fun! And I was perfectly safe. I had the Force on my side, _ he defends. They get off the lift at the level of Padmé's office. Anakin's only peripherally aware of his surroundings; he's taken this route so many times he can navigate it in his sleep.

_ Ah, yes. Is that what you told yourself every time you snuck out of the Temple to go speeder racing? _

"You knew about that?!" Anakin yelps just as they stop in front of Padmé's door. He had made sure to only do that when Obi-Wan was off-world, not wanting to risk his Master catching him and sending him away from the Order.

Before Obi-Wan can say anything, the door opens and they come face to face with a small group of Senators exiting Padmé's chambers. She must have been meeting with another Committee that morning. He recognizes a few of them and gives them courteous nods as they pass by him and Obi-Wan. The two of them step in when the entry clears and he sees Padmé speaking with Senators Mothma and Organa. He doesn't know Mon Mothma very well but he narrows his eyes at the dark-skinned senator from Alderaan.

"Let's set up a time to speak with the Chancellor about our petition. I feel that we have enough support now that he must listen to us," Padme's saying to them. They both nod.

"I'll have my aide make an appointment," Senator Mothma says. She and Bail turn to take their leave and Bail freezes when he sees Anakin. He's smugly satisfied at this reaction.

"Senator Mothma," Obi-Wan murmurs in greeting and farewell as she exits. Then he smiles at Bail, eyes lighting up a bit. Anakin fights off a wave of jealousy; he has nothing to be jealous of. "Bail! It's been awhile. How are you?"

"I, ah, I'm doing well, General Kenobi," Bail says, eyes darting between Anakin and Obi-Wan. Anakin juts his chin out a bit and raises a brow at him, unimpressed.

Obi-Wan frowns. "Why so formal today? You're not still upset that I won our last sabacc game, are you? That was...Force, that must have been eight or nine months ago. We're long overdue for another one."

"Oh well, I understand that you're busy, Obi-Wan," Bail says hastily with another glance at Anakin. "So there's no rush."

"Nonsense, I can always make time for a game of sabacc with a friend." Obi-Wan claps him on the shoulder and Bail nearly flinches. "I'll comm you to set up a time."

"Wonderful." Bail gives a slightly strained smile, nods a farewell to them both and leaves, head hanging low like a man doomed.

As soon as the door slides shut, Obi-Wan turns to Anakin and smacks him lightly on the arm. "What did you say to him?!"

"Nothing!" Anakin says. "I didn't say anything! Well, not much, anyway."

Obi-Wan scowls at him but he just feels fondly exasperated through their bond so Anakin's not worried. "When did you even have time to comm him? Please tell me you didn't jump to do so as soon as I got in the shower so that you could threaten him."

"What? No, of course not." Not that he wouldn't have done it if he had thought of it; he just didn't have the chance to think of it. "It's not my fault! He overheard me telling Padmé!" Padmé chuckles behind them and he turns to her. "Tell him, Padmé!"

"Oh no, I don't think I should get involved in this," Padmé says, holding her hands up. "This is between you and Obi-Wan, Ani." Anakin pouts but she doesn't relent.

Obi-Wan tips his head at her and Anakin throws his hands up. He can't win here. "Is this what my life is going to be like now? The two of you teaming up against me in arguments? That's not fair. You're both more eloquent than me!" He's actually quite delighted. He doesn't care if he loses every argument from now until the end of time if he could just keep this - both of the people he loves in the same room with him, safe from the war and anyone who wants to hurt them. All that's missing is Ahsoka and things would be perfect. He smiles widely at them both, Bail forgotten completely. "Padme, angel! I've missed you." He goes over to sweep her in a tight hug, taking a moment to breathe in her familiar perfume.

"Oh dear! Master Kenobi!" Threepio suddenly pipes up from the other side of the room. Anakin can detect the worry in the droid's voice and almost wants to laugh. "Would you care for something to drink? I've got the tea set up over here."

"Thank you, Threepio. I believe I will," Obi-Wan says, amusement tinging his voice.  _ Please tell me you didn't program your droid to distract people so that you can be affectionate with your wife. _

_ Of course not! _ But while Obi-Wan's distracted getting a cup of tea with Threepio's assistance, Anakin bends down to kiss his wife. He savors the sweetness of her lips and the softness of her skin. He really has missed her terribly in the past day and a half.

"Anakin, you look tired. Are you okay? How did it go with Obi-Wan?" Padmé asks quietly when they pull back from each other. He rests one hand on her shoulder, fingers rubbing absently at the thick cloth of her Senatorial robes as he chances a glance over at the other man. Obi-Wan appears to be patiently listening to Threepio go on about something or other; he feels content to give Anakin and Padmé their privacy for now.

"It went great! We talked most of the night and then meditated until we came here. Oh, and I have some more good news, too! We're going to be able to save you."

"Save me?" Padmé asks, sounding puzzled. "From what?"

"My dream. Of you dying."

"Oh, that. Ani, those are just dreams."

"That's what Obi-Wan had said about the dreams I had of mom. And those ended up coming true. But it doesn't matter, because I won't let these happen. I'm not going to let you die, I promise."

Padmé's eyes soften. "You can't stop death, Anakin."

"Maybe not, but I can keep it from getting to that point. And Obi-Wan will help. So it'll be okay."

Padmé shakes her head but just says, "Let's talk about this later, okay? I don't want to spoil our lunch."

"Okay," Anakin agrees reluctantly. She feels distressed. Why isn't she happy about this? Does she not believe in him? But it's no matter if she believes he'll be able to do it or not. He and Obi-Wan have had their share of doubters before and it's never stopped them from accomplishing their goals.

Padmé flashes him a smile and brushes another kiss on his lips. "I'll go make sure the food's here. Why don't you get Obi-Wan?"

He nods and she departs to the dining alcove. He takes a moment to watch her retreating back, admiring her gracefulness even in pregnancy. She seems more beautiful now than ever, glowing with new life. It doesn't make any sense for her to be in danger of dying. He shakes off the gloom from his premonitions and makes his way over to Obi-Wan, touching him gently at the small of his back. "Threepio, why don't you go help Padmé get set up?" he suggests, breaking into the droid's recounting of his latest adventure.

"Very well, Master Anakin," Threepio says agreeably and turns to go.

"You may want to consider adjusting his programming a bit," Obi-Wan says to him, watching the droid thoughtfully. "All that fretting can't be good for his circuits."

"Oh, don't I know it, Master Kenobi," Threepio calls back mournfully.

Anakin chuckles, placing a kiss at Obi-Wan's temple. "It's part of his personality. I can't change that now. And I like that he worries. I can't be with Padmé very often, especially when she's sent out on diplomatic missions but at least I know that Threepio's watching out for her."

Obi-Wan shakes his head. "I really should have known about you two when you traded droids."

"It's more like joint custody, really. Come on, we should head in before the food's cold."

Obi-Wan doesn't feel reluctant to go but Anakin keeps his hand on his back for reassurance—it's more for him anyway, because Obi-Wan's a steady presence both physically and in the Force and it calms him down.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a [starbird](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Starbird_\(creature\)) seems to be SW's version of a phoenix which is the comparison I was really going for with Obi-Wan. They do use the name Phoenix in SW but it seems to be mostly as ship names and there's a Corosian phoenix bird but that's a real bird (though it is apparently really beautiful) and I wanted more of a mythological/mystical creature so a starbird it was. I quite like it because if there's anyone who's repeatedly risen from the ashes with new life and beauty and strength, it's Obi-Wan. Right?
> 
> The path I decided to take with the nickname and terms of endearment came from a comment discussion with laurelseas, especially about Anakin calling Padme 'my angel'.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of fluff, some backstory, and an appearance by Palpatine (though Anakin is just hanging out on cloud 9).

They spend the first course making small talk about matters of the Senate. It feels a lot like many of the diplomatic meals he's been a part of but Obi-Wan can tell that Anakin's having trouble sitting through it. He's fidgeting so much that Obi-Wan's surprised he hasn't fallen off his chair yet. He mentally rolls his eyes. Anakin never was very good at diplomatic missions or strategy sessions or any situation requiring that he sit still for any length of time. He really shines much more in situations where he can be physically active and think on his feet. It's one of the reasons they work well as a team—Obi-Wan designs the overall plan and strategy and Anakin improvises on the fly when things inevitably fall apart. It makes him wonder sometimes how Anakin would have fared in the more traditional peacekeeping role that the Jedi had had before the war started when they rarely involved themselves in conflict.

_ Peace, dear heart, _ he sends to Anakin, along with a wave of calm. Anakin meets his eyes and gives a small, tight, grin. He doesn't say anything but he does settle a bit. Obi-Wan's relieved; he's experiencing some anxiety himself at the uncertainty of the situation and Anakin's nervousness has just been adding to it. He focuses back on Padmé and makes sure to maintain eye contact instead of looking down at her round belly and the bright spark of the Force that must be Anakin's child.

Threepio clears off the empty small plates and brings in their entrees.

"I hope this is okay, Obi-Wan," Padmé says, gesturing at his dish, and Anakin's eyes flick over to her and then back to watch his reaction. "I didn't know what you liked so I requested that the chef send one of his specialties."

"That's perfectly fine, m'lady. I appreciate the effort," Obi-Wan says. "This cuisine is exquisite." He watches, amused, as Anakin turns his head back towards Padmé, whose eyes light up.

"Isn't it? It's Tapani. I went to the Tapani sector once as a child and fell in love with the food. Lucky for me, there's a family-owned restaurant not too far from here. And please, call me Padmé. There's no need for formalities."

Obi-Wan nods. "Padmé it is, then. Thank you for this meal." He starts cutting into one of the stuffed starfishes and tries to ignore Anakin practically vibrating with tension across from him.

"I'm glad you could make it. It's been far too long since we've spoken," Padmé answers, spearing a piece of red cheese with her fork.

"Indeed. You know, I just saw something on the HoloNet about the Gungans and—" Out of the corner of his eyes, Obi-Wan sees Anakin's grip tighten on his knife until his knuckles are white.

"Oh, yes. The treaty amendments. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on that—"

"By the  _ Force _ , how much kriffin' small talk can the two of you  _ do _ ?!" Anakin bursts out. Obi-Wan barely contains his chuckles in time.

"Anakin!" Padmé says, looking shocked.

"I'm surprised you have to ask, my former Padawan. Have you not paid attention on all those diplomatic missions we went on? I can do this for hours," Obi-Wan says with a smirk. He slides his eyes over to Padmé who covers a smile of her own with her napkin.

"As can I, Master Negotiator."

Anakin groans loudly. "You're both killing me. Can't we please just speak plainly? Instead of going in Force-forsaken circles?"

"I'm sorry, Ani," Padmé says, squeezing his left forearm and releasing it. He sets his utensil down and grabs her hand instead, interlocking their fingers. "You're right, we shouldn't dance around the subject. I have a Senate meeting to attend shortly and we don't have much time."

"I apologize as well," Obi-Wan says. "I'm afraid that I don't quite know what to say in a situation such as this." Anakin wiggles his prosthetic fingers at him and Obi-Wan sighs but reaches out to take hold of his hand. Anakin beams.

Padmé, who had been watching them with a small smile, says gently, "Obi-Wan, I've always known that you and Anakin come as a pair. Whether the relationship between you was platonic or not, I knew that there was something very special and unique there that I could never have with him, though I don't fully understand it."

"Very few people outside of the Order can grasp the relationship Jedi have with each other. You probably have a better idea than most."

"I suppose," Padmé says, sounding doubtful. "It's always just been a part of Anakin that I've tried to accept. And I can't say that I've never been envious of the time he spends with you or the strength of his commitment to you and the Order. But I do try, because I know that it's important to him."

Obi-Wan nods. "We've spoken about his commitment to the Order. Padmé, I want you to know that I don't intend to come between you and Anakin. I'm well aware of your importance to him and I will respect the relationship the two of you have with each other."

"Thank you," Padmé says. "I believe that with open communication, we can make this arrangement work to all of our satisfaction."

"I agree."

Padmé inclines her head. "So it's settled, then?"

"Yes, I believe so."

"Wait, that's it?!" Anakin asks incredulously. He gapes at them both and his hand squeezes Obi-Wan's hard.

"Yes. Did you expect some more aggressive negotiations?" Obi-Wan asks.

"Well, no, but—"

"Should we draw up a formal agreement for us all to sign? Establish which days you'll be with me and which days you'll be with Padmé?" he continues with a smirk.

Anakin scowls. "Obi-Wan..."

Obi-Wan chuckles. "Sorry, love." Grimacing, he frees his hand from Anakin's tight grip. "Please don't crush my bones. I'm quite attached to them."

"Haha," Anakin says deadpan. Padmé muffles a chuckle with her napkin. She tugs her hand back too and Anakin lets it go, picking up his knife again instead.

"Ani, it's impossible to predict everything that might come up in the future and decide how to deal with it now. We just have to agree to not hide things from each other and to make big decisions together. Right?" She glances at Obi-Wan as she says this, and he nods in agreement.

"Right," Anakin says. He takes a breath in and then blows it out. "Good. I'm glad that's done." He smiles at them both and then eyes the food on Obi-Wan's plate.

_ Don't even think about it, _ Obi-Wan warns through their bond, but it's too late—Anakin's already levitating a piece of starfish over to his own plate. Obi-Wan groans, briefly contemplates snatching it back, decides that it's too much trouble at this point, and waves a hand in defeat. He watches as Anakin tries it—he himself hasn't even had a chance to taste it yet - and widen his eyes in delight.

"Mm, this is delicious! Obi-Wan, you have to try it!"

Obi-Wan rolls his eyes. "That was exactly what I was going to do until you preempted me so rudely."

Anakin just grins, unrepentant.

"And don't use the Force so casually in front of non-Force sensitives. It's uncouth and it makes some people uncomfortable," Obi-Wan chides.

"Oh, I don't mind. I think it's quite charming, actually. When we had first met up again and Anakin was guarding me against the assassin, he floated some fruits in the air for me. It was the first time I had seen the Force being used in such a benign way."

Obi-Wan can feel his eye twitch. "Anakin!"

"What? She just said that she likes it!"

"Yes, luckily. But you could have caused an intergalactic incident had she interpreted that to be a threat of some kind. Or if you had lost control of it and hurt her."

"With fruits?" Anakin asks skeptically.

Obi-Wan sighs. "Remember when I was first teaching you that trick and you made the plates explode?"

Anakin flushes. "That was a long time ago!"

"You taught that to him?" Padmé asks, leaning forward curiously.

"Yes, though perhaps that was a lapse in judgment on my part. It's a game that Initiates play, when they're learning how to control the Force. The crechemasters overlook it because it's a good exercise for them. I taught it to Anakin because they did it to him and, well—"

"—I got really mad that people were taking food from me and started a fight in the commissary. A physical fight. Which I won." Anakin looks smug about it, even after all these years.

"Because you had more fighting experience than them," Obi-Wan reminds him. "Initiates aren't taught hand to hand combat and fighting is discouraged." Turning to Padmé, he says, "it was the first time I had gone offworld on a mission and I had thought it would be best for him to stay with what would have been his class of Initiates and their crechemaster had he been raised in the Temple. When that didn't work out, I started leaving him with Master Eerin, Master Muln, or Master Vos in our quarters. If none of them could stay with him, then one of the members of the Council would, though that was quite rare." Obi-Wan pauses, thinking back to those years. "Hm, I wonder if the Council helped facilitate that arrangement so that one of us was always available to stay with Anakin. I seem to remember them saying that they were too old to be watching over a nine-year-old Padawan...."

Anakin smirks and Obi-Wan is suddenly hit with a worry about what exactly Anakin might have done to the Council members to convince them to make sure one of Obi-Wan's friends could take him instead.

"So these other Masters, they were friends of yours?" Padmé asks.

"Yes. We grew up together and we were very close. Master Muln was the first of us to be Knighted but I was the first to take on a Padawan. We had always talked about choosing and training our Padawans together, but well, some things were out of our control," Obi-Wan shrugs one shoulder and lets the usual pain over the loss of his Master wash through him. Anakin taps his foot gently and sends him a wave of comfort. Obi-Wan smiles at him gratefully and concentrates on the happier memories from those early days. "They were quite proud of him and worried over him constantly." Anakin looks surprised at this. "Oh, yes, Anakin. You worried them quite a bit, with your frequent escapades into Lower Coruscant. I still remember the first comm I had gotten about that, from Garen. He was in such a panic, thinking that I was going to hurt him for letting you sneak out and wondering if he should make you aware that he was following you and bring you back to the Temple or not."

"Wait, he followed me?!"

"They all followed you. Every time. Anakin, you didn't really think you were successfully sneaking out under the noses of senior Padawans and Knights, did you? Jedi who grew up in the Temple? That you had only been living in for a couple of months?"

Anakin pouts. "Yes."

Obi-Wan chuckles and pats Anakin's hand a couple of times. "You were very resourceful, I'll give you that. But the Temple is thousands of years old and there are countless hidden passages and there isn't any single Jedi, including Master Yoda, who knows them all. But yes, they knew whenever you left and they followed you, to make sure you didn't get into too much trouble. I told them just to keep letting you go and watching over you. Quinlan almost went a step too far and bet on you during one of your speeder races but I reminded him that gambling was frowned upon in the Order. He was very excited about your races. I'm quite sure he kept track of when all the races were and arranged to stay on-world during those days specifically so that he could go watch you race. I'm a little envious that I've never seen one of your races live but it's probably for the best."

"You've seen them?"

"They took holovids to show me. Bant was so nervous you were going to crash that she couldn't watch the races herself but she set up a holorecorder. Garen was worried that you would lose or that you would disappear in the middle of a race. And Quinlan was so excited he nearly blew his cover a couple of times."

"It sounds like you had quite the childhood, Ani. You've never told me any of this," Padmé says with a teasing smile.

Anakin shrugs. "I don't really think about my Padawan days much."

"I'm so curious to hear more about being a Jedi. Obi-Wan, will you share something about yourself? Anakin speaks of you so often that I feel like I already know you, but only as you are now. If you don't mind, I'd love to hear about your younger years. I remember when you and Master Jinn had come to Naboo's aid but you had seemed so mature and—pardon this description—a bit unapproachable."

Obi-Wan hums thoughtfully. That had been a difficult time for him; he had just separated from Satine, had been questioning whether he was making the right decision or not, and had been just trying to focus on the mission. He sorts through his memories for something appropriate to share now. "Master Qui-Gon used to collect strays," he says finally. Anakin perks up at this; he likely knows where this is headed. "He was very strong in the Living Force and small, helpless creatures tended to gravitate towards him or pull him towards them if they weren't mobile. So he'd collect them and then hand them off to me to care for." His mouth twists wryly in remembrance of some of those creatures. "I wasn't very appreciative of them at the beginning. I couldn't understand why he was making me take care of them when he was the one picking them up everywhere. But eventually, I realized that my grasp of the Living Force and the ability to understand and influence non-sentient beings was getting stronger because of the time I was spending with them. There were plants, creatures, and sometimes Force-sensitive children whose names we entered into the holocron. They were our pathetic little lifeforms," he says with a smile. "Some of them were quite vicious but others were sweet. It was...difficult releasing some of them back into their natural habitats."

"That nightlily on the windowsill is one of the strays, isn't it? That's why you won't let me get rid of it," Anakin says suddenly, eyes lighting up in realization.

"Yes. It belongs on H'nemthe but we haven't been back there since Master Qui-Gon found it. It's a fine plant if you know how to treat it."

"It tries to bite me every time I feed it!" Anakin says, looking affronted.

"Oh, that's nothing. It's just hungry. You know those bite marks on the column near our quarters?"

"The Bite of the Sith-begotten Cat?" Anakin asks, using the title (coined by Mace) that had become popular for the landmark since the incident.

"That was one of ours. An infant gurrcat from Corellia that we had rescued after its pack had been killed. It was teething and blinded from pain and I lost control of it, so it...well, you can guess." Anakin bursts out laughing and even Padmé loses her composure at that. Obi-Wan blushes. That had not been his finest moment in demonstrating control of the Force. Mace had not been pleased when he had come running in response to the alarmed shouts from other residents of that hallway and seen Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan standing there, arms akimbo and debating how to get the gurrcat to stop chewing on the column. "As soon as it was old enough to fend for itself, we were given a special mission from the Council to return it to Corellia."

"Oh, dear," Padmé says, dabbing at the corner of her eyes. "You and Master Jinn must have been quite the team."

"Mhm. There was also the Ralltiir tiger. She had left claw marks on the wall outside the commissary - the Claws of the Tiger, people call that one. She was hungry and drawn to the smell of food, which for her was anything that had blood. We managed to redirect her before anyone got hurt."

"Well, now I know why you have such a penchant for befriending vicious creatures," Anakin says with a wide grin.

"I think it runs in the lineage. Mace blamed us for the Zillo beast incident, you know. Said I had passed on that 'infernal habit of bringing back destructive creatures' to you only it was ten times worse because you always take things too far."

"Hey!" Anakin says indignantly. "That's not true! And  _ he's _ the one who wanted to keep it alive!"

"I know. I reminded him of that. He wasn't very appreciative of the reminder. In any case, the Jinn-Kenobi team was known throughout the Temple for being the team that adopted and brought back helpless lifeforms that were really not all that helpless. Half the Temple would find other places to be when they knew we were returning from a mission," Obi-Wan says nostalgically. He sobers suddenly, watching Anakin. "You were actually the last stray that Qui-Gon had picked up and given into my care."

"Oh," Anakin says softly.

A hush falls over the table, broken only by the gentle clinks of silverware.

"So," Padmé finally says, "what is the Kenobi-Skywalker team known for?"

"Chaos and mayhem," Obi-Wan answers promptly, the phrase springing instantly to mind from all of the Council sessions he's had to sit through defending his or Anakin's actions.

"That's a bit redundant, isn't it?" Anakin asks.

"No. It's an indication of how much trouble we cause. Mace regularly threatens to retire because of what we put him through," Obi-Wan reports, though he can't help smiling at the memory of some of Mace's complaints. "And it's only gotten worse since the war started."

"Hey, at least we get results," Anakin says.

"The Republic regards the two of you as simply The Team," Padmé offers. "The best the Jedi have to offer, heroes of the galaxy, the pair that gets sent in when all hope seems to be lost, the team that's practically holding back the Separatists all by themselves. If only we weren't hiding our marriage, I could have been famous by association. Except that no one would believe that we were married, anyway, Ani. Everyone thinks you're married to Obi-Wan." Her eyes twinkle with mirth.

Obi-Wan chokes on the bite he's just taken and coughs harshly.

Anakin splutters and spits out his sip of mistwater. "What?!"

Padmé chuckles. "The two of you have quite the fanclub, you know. In fact, some of my aides are fans. They collect holopictures and holonews of the two of you. There's even a saying: 'Where there is Kenobi, Skywalker is not far behind'."

"Oh, Force!" Anakin says with dismay, looking at Obi-Wan. "You don't think the Council knows about that, do you?"

"I doubt they would pay any mind to those rumors," Obi-Wan says.

"I doubt they would have heard of them, unless they read the gossip on certain media outlets. Most people who believe the two of you are married wouldn't dare speak of it in front of a Jedi. Besides the two of you, the Jedi are seen as rather aloof and intimidating on the whole."

"I, well, I suppose that's just as well," Obi-Wan says, shaking his head. He doesn't know how people had gotten the idea that he and Anakin were intimate before they had actually started getting intimate.

Threepio comes by and collects their empty plates and refills their drinks. Padmé picks up hers and rises. "Shall we move our discussion to the sofas so that Threepio can finish tidying up in here?"

Obi-Wan and Anakin acquiesce and follow her out into the two semi-circular sofas in the main office. She settles on one, Anakin sits next to her, and Obi-Wan takes the sofa across from them. He watches them together and wonders again how he didn't realize the extent of their relationship. Anakin nearly hovers over her and she leans into him, comfortable in his regard for her. She folds her hands over her belly and Obi-Wan's reminded of the bantha in the room.

"Padmé, how is your pregnancy going?" he asks. He leans back and bends one leg to rest the ankle over his other knee.

"It's going well," she answers, glancing between him and Anakin, who's listening with an intense look. "I'm due for a check-up in a week with the healers on Naboo. Ani, I was hoping that you would be able to go with me. If you could be spared from the war efforts for a couple of days?"

Anakin looks uncertainly at Obi-Wan, hope and worry equally prevalent in his eyes.

"I think that would be a good idea," Obi-Wan says. "You should go, Anakin. Make sure things are proceeding well."

Anakin nods and then asks, "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

Padmé shakes her head. "I've asked that they not reveal it to me until you could be present. I wanted you to be a part of this as much as possible. All I know is that I'm nearly thirty-six weeks along, it's proceeding as it should, and there aren't any complications."

Anakin nods, but doesn't look entirely reassured which Obi-Wan thinks is understandable given Anakin's dreams of Padmé dying in childbirth. Clearly if there's a possibility that she's going to die, then there probably will be some complications soon. He shakes his head, though, and is relieved when Anakin doesn't bring up the possibility of her death. He wants to do more research before broaching the subject with her.

"The child is quite strong in the Force," he says. Padmé and Anakin both look surprised. "You don't sense it?" he asks Anakin, who shakes his head. "Curious. Well,  _ I _ can sense it. It's not surprising, of course, with it being Anakin's child. How did the two of you manage to get pregnant anyway?"

"Well, when a man and a woman lie together..." Anakin starts but cuts himself off with a laugh at Obi-Wan's scowl. "I don't know. We've been using birth control."

"We're always careful," Padmé asserts. "This is no time to be bringing a child into the world if one can help it."

"Then how did this happen?"

"Maybe, like what happened with me, the Force had a hand in it?"

Obi-Wan considers. It's possible, if Anakin is indeed the Chosen One. Even if not, his level of midichlorians is unprecedentedly high and there's no telling what he's capable of doing with the Force. "Were you thinking of wanting children?"

Anakin frowns. "Well, vaguely, in the 'maybe one day after the war's over' but not at that specific moment, I don't think."

Could that have done it? Obi-Wan's unsure and he doesn't like not knowing.

The door chimes and Padmé starts to get up. "No, don't worry about it. I'll get it," Anakin says. He brushes a kiss against her hair and goes to answer the door to reveal a senatorial aide dressed in the Chancellor's staff uniform.

"Apologies for interrupting, Senator Amidala, Master Skywalker, and Master Kenobi," she says with a low bow. "The Chancellor had heard that you were in the building and wished to speak with you, Master Skywalker, if you could spare him a few minutes before the Senate session begins."

"Oh, um, I think so." Anakin looks back them and quirks an eyebrow questioningly.

"I think we had a very productive meeting today. Perhaps we can continue our conversation tomorrow?" Padmé says, getting up.

Anakin comes back over and takes her hand, shaking it cordially. "That would be great, Senator Amidala." Lowering his voice, he murmurs, "I'll see you tonight?"

Padmé just nods slightly in answer and Anakin grins. When he lets go, Obi-Wan steps up and gives her a slight bow. "Thank you for your hospitality. I hope that we will have many more such enjoyable conversations."

"I hope so as well," Padmé answers serenely.

The two of them nod a final farewell and follow the Chancellor's aide out the door.

 

* * *

 

Anakin spends most of the walk through the Senate Building a little giddy from the meeting. He had hoped that it would go well, but he hadn't dared hope that it would go as well as it did.  _ Thank you, Obi-Wan, _ he sends through their bond, along with his gratitude.  _ You are truly like a starbird, magnificent and elegant and _ —

_ Anakin, please, _ Obi-Wan breaks in and Anakin can feel his embarrassed blush.  _ I did nothing extraordinary. Padmé is lovely. If you had to secretly wed someone, I'm glad that it was her. _

Anakin smiles, pleased.  _ Can you believe the whole galaxy thinks that  _ we're _ the ones who are married?! _

_ I must admit, that was quite a shock. I don't know how they drew that conclusion. _

They reach the atrium to the Chancellor's office and the aide clears her throat. "The Chancellor requested to see just Master Skywalker, sirs."

Obi-Wan dips his head and murmurs, "Then I shall wait out here."

"I'm sure this will be quick," Anakin says out loud for the benefit of the aide. He knocks on the ornate door and enters at the Chancellor's command. Palpatine is sitting at his desk reading through reports but he looks up and smiles when he sees Anakin.

"Anakin, my boy, I'm glad that you were able to spare a few minutes to come see me! Please, take a seat." Anakin does so and Palpatine leans forward inquisitively. "I just wanted to check in with you and see how you were. You rushed out of here so quickly a couple of days ago and I haven't heard from you since."

It takes a second before the memories of his last talk with the Chancellor comes back to him and then he flushes. "Oh! I apologize. That must have been very rude."

Palpatine waves off the apology though. "It's no worry. I know that you must have been very concerned about your Master. Tell me—how are things between you?"

"Great!" Anakin says with a smile. "Better than they have been in a long time, actually." He gives their bond a light tug just to feel its presence. He can vaguely sense Obi-Wan waiting patiently in the other room, feeling amused at the curiosity rolling off of the aides. Obi-Wan sends a wordless inquiry that Anakin answers with a burst of fondness.

Palpatine's eyes narrow. "Oh? Something does seem...different about you."

"Really?"

"Yes. You appear less restless."

"Oh." Anakin frowns, trying to see if that's true but he can't really notice a difference himself. He shrugs. "Well, perhaps it's just that Obi-Wan and I have been talking about a lot of things that we've never talked about before and I think we're beginning to understand each other more." He laughs and shakes his head. "After fourteen years, it finally feels like we're truly a team." He can't believe it's taken them this long.

Palpatine looks briefly dismayed and then concerned; the dismay is gone so quickly that Anakin's not sure if it was really there or not. "And what of Master Kenobi's...indiscretions that you had been upset about? Were the two of you able to clear that up?"

"Yep!" Palpatine's eye twitches. "It turns out that that wasn't him at all. He hadn't been seeing anybody, Senator or otherwise. Whoever you heard that from must have been mistaken."

"And you believe that he's being truthful to you?"

"Yes," Anakin says firmly.

"Even though in the past, he's kept things from you?"

"Yes," Anakin repeats. The lights in the office flicker and he furrows his brows but then they steady out so he puts it out of his head. It's probably nothing. "We've renewed our bond. There's no more secrets between us."

Palpatine's eye twitches again.

Anakin frowns. "Are you okay, Chancellor?"

Palpatine blinks hard. "Yes, yes, I am. Thank you for your concern, dear boy. I'm just a little tired, is all. This war has been weighing heavily on my mind."

Anakin nods. "Perhaps I should go. You probably need to prepare for the Senate session and Obi-Wan and I need to get back to the Temple."

"Very well," Palpatine says. He gets up and comes around the desk to walk Anakin to the door. "Just, be careful, my boy. I'm afraid that the Jedi may not understand the closeness you share with your former Master. I would hate to see them turn you away because of it."

"Thank you, Chancellor, but I'm sure we'll be able to work something out. There isn't anything that Obi-Wan and I can't do if we're working together." Anakin bows slightly to him and opens the door. His heart skips a beat when he spots Obi-Wan illuminated by one of the ceiling lights. He's the brightest thing in the room and Anakin walks over in a slight daze, drinking the sight of him in.

"Ready?" Obi-Wan asks.

"Yes, let's go. I'm exhausted." He knows that there are probably things they both need to do but all he can think of right now is sleeping with Obi-Wan—cuddling up with him, soaking in his warmth, basking in their joined Force signatures. He can't hold onto Obi-Wan physically here, so he reaches out through their bond instead and is gratified when Obi-Wan reciprocates.

As they leave, he hears something crack behind them but when they look back, the door to the office is closed and the aides milling around don't look concerned. Anakin shares a look with Obi-Wan and they shrug. Probably something had just fallen inside the Chancellor's office. Anakin's sure that the Chancellor can request assistance from his aides in cleaning it up if he needs it.

He flies them both back to the Temple and is thankful when no one interrupts them on their way back to their quarters. They barely manage to disrobe before they tumble into bed together—Obi-Wan's, again. Anakin brushes a kiss softly against his lips and then buries his face in Obi-Wan's neck, licking a stripe there just to taste him. He wishes he had the energy to do something more than just sleep but he doesn't. Maybe when they wake up. He doesn't know why he's so tired; he's gone longer before without sleep but perhaps it's because they don't have the adrenaline of being in battle to sustain them.

"We should look into pregnancies of Force-sensitive children, see if there's anything there to be wary of," Obi-Wan murmurs, turning into Anakin. "But I have such a headache right now, I don't think I could even concentrate. It's like a herd of gundarks is stampeding through my head."

Anakin coos in sympathy and reaches up with one hand to rub gently at Obi-Wan's temple. Healing's never been one of his fortes so he just channels a bit of Force energy and hopes that Obi-Wan can redirect it.

"Thanks, my love," Obi-Wan says with a sigh of relief.

"Any time, my starbird."

Obi-Wan groans mildly but he presses a kiss to the top of Anakin's head. "Sweet dreams," he says as they both fall asleep.

Neither of them dream at all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Palpatine totally threw something across his office as soon as the door was closed behind Anakin.
> 
> Also, [1 month = 7 weeks](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Galactic_Standard_Calendar), so Padme's 35 weeks pregnant at the beginning of ROTS.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is fluff, stress, and sap between our two couples. (You all can probably guess who's mostly responsible for what.) :D

"Okay," Obi-Wan says, distributing a datapad each to Anakin and Padmé when they meet the next day. "Here's what I've found so far on Force-sensitive pregnancies."

They've opted for an evening meeting this time since Padmé had had a full morning and afternoon of Senate meetings and are convening in her personal quarters in the Senate Apartment Building instead of her office.

Anakin frowns. Obi-Wan's eyes are a little wide and his hand movements are just the tiniest bit jerky; his gaze darts around the room restlessly. He's exuding a subtle frenetic energy that on anyone else would be mild but on him is alarming just due to its rarity. "Obi-Wan, have you slept at all since I left last night?" he asks. Padmé looks up from the datapad in her hand, frowning slightly.

Obi-Wan flaps a hand at him and Anakin barely refrains from widening his eyes. "I'm fine. I had some caf. This research needed to be done. We don't have much time. Did you know that the average length of pregnancy for a human female is forty weeks? That means we only have four more weeks to figure out what's going on with your dreams before Padmé goes into labor. And then she'll have to decide if she wants to deliver vaginally or via surgical—"

Anakin's startled. "You know about human pregnancies?"

"No, but I read up on it last night. I started off looking for information on Force-sensitive pregnancies, specifically—which sadly, there isn't much recent documentation on in the Archive, I suppose because there's a restriction on Jedi having children. I mean, it's not an explicitly stated restriction but it goes along with the discouragement of attachments in general. So there really isn't any data from the Jedi themselves about pregnancy and what to expect from Force-sensitive children in the womb or during the delivery. And of the children who are brought to the Temple or found after birth, there's not much documented either since typically the parents don't find out about the Force sensitivity until after birth when they get tested at the hospital if such a thing is routinely done or when things start happening around the child that make the parents suspect that there's some Force use involved. But while I was looking into that, I realized that I—and you, as well, Anakin—are sorely lacking in education about pregnancies in general so I started looking into  _ that _ —"

"Stop, stop, stop!" Anakin cries, alarm levels rising with each rambling sentence that Obi-Wan utters. Even Padmé is starting to look worried. Obi-Wan stops, looking confused. "You're rambling! You're sounding like you did on that mission on Ryloth when we had to keep moving for three standard days and barely had time to rest so we were downing caf to stay awake." Obi-Wan must have been drinking caf continuously since the previous night in order to be this unfocused in such a short period of time.

Obi-Wan blinks. "I—what? Anakin, I'm  _ fine _ ."

Anakin just shakes his head. "Sit." He guides Obi-Wan to the sofa and applies gentle pressure on his shoulders to get him to sit down; Obi-Wan goes without complaint or comment which makes Anakin even more worried. "I'll get you some tea," he says.

Obi-Wan just sighs and leans back into the sofa. "Very well."

Anakin rewards him with a big smile. Then he looks towards Padmé and hurries to help her over to the sofa as well. She doesn't really need his help but he enjoys the physical contact.

"Anakin!" she hisses, leaning in close as they make their way slowly over. "This document is thirty thousand words long! There are citations and footnotes and a table of contents! He even  _ indexed _ everything! This is too much!"

"Oh, that's just the first part. He'll want to interview experts in the field, next. If there are any. And then do a couple of case studies—probably one of you if you'll consent to that."

Padmé’s eyes widen.

"He does this pretty regularly. He likes researching things and writing about them. There's a whole section in the Archives for his works. It's one of the reasons he keeps getting into trouble on missions—he's always wanting to get a closer look at some rare or previously unknown species of plant or creature. I've had to put a stop to some of his research projects for his own safety. And he always forgets he needs things like sleep or food when he's in the middle of something. I should have known better than to leave him alone with it yesterday." They reach the sofa and Anakin helps Padmé get settled in on the opposite end from Obi-Wan, leaving a space in the middle for himself. "Do you want anything too?"

"No, thank you, I'm okay." Padmé eyes Obi-Wan who has tilted his head back against the back of the sofa and closed his eyes before looking back at the datapad in her hands with a quiet sigh. She starts to skim through the document again and Anakin makes his way over to where the tea is set up in the corner.

He looks through the selection carefully. He's not all that familiar with the different varieties - Obi-Wan's the tea drinker between the two of them but his favorite has caf in it, Anakin knows, so that won't work. He finally decides on one that's supposed to be soothing and help promote sleep according to the label. Force knows Obi-Wan needs the sleep right now. He adds a bit of hot milk for good measure and then picks up the plate of crumpets next to the kettle. When he returns to the sitting area, Padmé looks completely engrossed in the datapad and Obi-Wan's starting to list to the side, breathing evenly. Anakin stops and purses his lips, debating whether to wake the other man up or not. But well, Obi-Wan probably hasn't eaten all day which isn't good so that makes his mind up for him. He tugs a bit on the Force bond as he's coming around the curve of the sofa and Obi-Wan blinks awake just in time for Anakin to press the cup of tea into his hands and set the plate on his lap.

"Wha—?" he asks a little dazedly, fingers automatically wrapping around the teacup.

"Tea. And biscuits. You should eat something while Padmé and I read through what you've found."

Padmé looks up at this with a smile. "Yes, thank you for looking into all of this, Obi-Wan. Perhaps we can discuss it after you've rested and Anakin and I have had a chance to digest it."

Obi-Wan looks startled. "Oh, okay. Yes, that sounds reasonable. Perhaps I should go back to the Temple, then."

"What? No, don't do that! You can stay here!" Anakin protests without thinking. At Obi-Wan's raised eyebrow, he darts his eyes towards Padmé who's luckily smiling in amusement. Anakin's relieved. He hadn't realized there would be so many potential pitfalls to this new arrangement of theirs. He thinks a little mournfully that he'll probably fall into just about all of them at some point.

"I do have some extra rooms. They were set aside for my handmaidens to use but I've only got Motee with me right now so the rest are empty. You're free to stay in one of those for the night. Or longer, if you'd like," Padmé offers.

Obi-Wan looks like he's about to politely refuse so Anakin pouts at him and widens his eyes. Obi-Wan sighs. "Very well. I'll stay. Just for tonight, because it's already quite late."

"Great!" Anakin says enthusiastically and beams. He knows better than to say anything now but he's already planning which room to give to Obi-Wan and how he can rearrange it to make sure it's to the other man's liking - simple furnishings, no clutter, a view of the city, and an open space for meditation. He doesn't want them to completely move out of their rooms at the Temple because they had been there for so long and it is home for Obi-Wan but he wants Obi-Wan to have a space of his own here too.

He's thought briefly about Obi-Wan's suggestion that he leave the Order but he still can't envision leaving while Obi-Wan remains in it and he also can't quite bring himself to ask Obi-Wan to leave with him. He remembers hearing Obi-Wan telling Satine that he'd have left the Order if she had asked it of him, that time when the assassin had been about to kill her en route to Coruscant and Anakin had been sneaking up behind their group. At that time, he had marveled that Obi-Wan had ever considered leaving the Order at all and had thought that Satine was foolish to have let that chance slip away.

But now he thinks he understands why she had never asked it of Obi-Wan - the Jedi are his family, in a way that they never had been for Anakin. Being a Jedi is Obi-Wan's life and he's  _ good _ at it. No matter how much he protests, he truly is one of the best—compassionate, smart, willing to make the tough calls, and able to charm anyone and win their trust. And he enjoys helping people as a Jedi—Anakin can see that in every mission they do, big or small. He can't in good conscience ask Obi-Wan to give that up. And certainly not for him. What if Obi-Wan actually does it? How could Anakin ever hope to be an adequate trade for something that's defined the other man for longer than Anakin's been alive? Satine may have been able to - she was a Duchess and governed a planet; she was a good person who valued ideals like Obi-Wan does. But Anakin isn't those things. No matter how much he tries, he knows it wouldn't be enough and he doesn't want Obi-Wan to resent him for it. So he won't ask. And he can't leave.

But he  _ will _ find a way to balance being a husband and a father and a Jedi.

He picks up his datapad again and delves into the document that Obi-Wan had put together. Padmé has already gone back to studying it and Obi-Wan has started munching on some biscuits in silence. They spend the rest of the night reading together (though Obi-Wan does fall asleep against Anakin's shoulder at some point—Anakin ends up sitting very still for much longer than he usually can in fear of waking Obi-Wan from his much-needed rest).

 

* * *

 

Obi-Wan wakes up on Padmé’s sofa with sunlight streaming in through the wall of windows. He's snuggled into Anakin who's got one arm wrapped around him and one arm around Padmé who's curled up on his other side. A large, thick blanket covers the three of them and it feels warm and cozy so he takes a moment to revel in the sense of peace and contentment suffusing their little group.

Then Threepio shuffles in with a tray of steaming cups of caf and Muja muffins. Anakin startles awake at the noise and jerks up, which jostles Padmé awake too, though she's more graceful about it. Obi-Wan pulls away reluctantly from Anakin's solid warmth and takes a cup from the tray that Threepio offers him. He's slightly embarrassed at falling asleep on the sofa like he had but he mostly only regrets it because he now has a painful crick in his neck.

"Morning," Anakin says, brushing a kiss on Padmé’s lips and then turning and doing the same with Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan smiles into the kiss, feeling oddly grateful that he's being included in this family unit so easily. Anakin takes a sip of caf and then says, "You know, I didn't see anything about any particular dangers involved in bearing Force-sensitive children."

Obi-Wan nods. "I know. I suspect that there just haven't been many children who were strong enough in the Force to be decidedly sensitive even before birth so there weren't any signs to prompt specific data collection about those pregnancies. You yourself probably were but out on Tatooine, there wouldn't have been anyone who could have noticed. There's a couple of older texts I still want to consult but there's generally a lot of gaps in the information that we have on the subject. I did learn that the birthing process is easier with a Force-sensitive healer present but there's no clear explanation as to why that is."

Padmé clears her throat then. "Perhaps there isn't any heightened danger with the pregnancy and it's just your worries about being a father that's causing your dreams, Anakin."

"No, I know what regular dreams feel like. And these are  _ not _ the same. These feel like the dreams about my mother. They're a warning. Now I just have to figure out how to stop them from happening."

"Well, if they're truly visions of the future, then perhaps they're meant to come to pass and you're being shown them so that you have time to prepare for it."

"What?" Anakin says. "No, you can't believe that."

Padmé raises her chin. "Why not? Anakin, you may be a powerful Jedi but you're not a god. If it is truly time for Shiraya to take me, then She will."

" _ What? _ " Anakin yelps and Obi-Wan winces. "You can't be serious," he then says flatly.

Padmé just arches a brow at him elegantly.

"If you believe in destiny like that, then why were you fighting so hard to free Naboo from the Trade Federation ten years ago? Why are you fighting so hard to negotiate an end to this war now? Why are any of  _ us _ putting our lives on the line for the Republic instead of leaving it in the hands of these so-called  _ gods _ ?!" Anakin demands, breathing harshly. The Force bond tightens with his agitation and Obi-Wan tries to soothe it out.  _ Breathe, Anakin. Just listen. Don't get worked up. _

Padmé narrows her eyes. "Shiraya helps those who help themselves, not those who sit around waiting for things to be handed to them. And I believe in fighting for just causes. But some things you can't avoid, Anakin. Such as dying when it's your time. We all have a time. We may not know when it is but death will come for all of us eventually."

Anakin shakes his head sharply.

"It will, Anakin," Padmé repeats. "And the more you fight it, the harder it will be to accept it when the time comes. It's what we do with the time we have that's important. And what I've chosen to do is live with conviction and love. I've chosen to advocate for peace and freedom and democracy because those are important to me and for as long as I live, I will continue to fight for those, whether it's only another couple of months or another couple of decades."

"You. Will.  _ Not. _ Be.  _ Dying. _ In. A. Couple. Of. Months!" Anakin snarls. "How many times to I have to say this? I'll find a way to stop it!" He throws his hands in the air and starts pacing. Obi-Wan watches him pensively, worried that he's going to lose control over his emotions again. Anger is already tinting their bond a faint red and tension tightens it uncomfortably again. He infuses a sense of calmness into it and the color does seem to fade a bit to the orange-tinged pink of sunset.

"No, you will not! Anakin, you  _ can't _ . Only the gods have dominion over life and death like that. If you try to overreach, if you try to do something that no mortal being was ever meant to do—do you know what that could cost you? Your soul! Why do you think there are so many cautionary tales about people who try to play god and end up destroying themselves and everything they care about? Why do you think the holymen of Naboo preach that we should live in harmony with our planet? Breaking the natural cycle of life will break one of the seven gates guarding against Chaos!"

Anakin scoffs. "What do those holymen know about the Force? They're just a bunch of monks living in isolated temples and communities!"

"Anakin!" Padmé rebukes, looking aghast. "One of those holymen presided over our wedding! If you don't respect their authority and their wisdom, then our vows mean nothing!"

Anakin's eyes widen in panic and he takes several large steps over to Padmé to grab her hands. "No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. Of course our vows mean something. They mean everything to me!"

"Then you'll respect my stance on this," Padmé says firmly. "I don't want you destroying yourself trying to save me. Especially not when we have a child on the way." She frees one of her hands and cups Anakin's cheek with it. "No matter what happens to me, whether I live or die in childbirth, you  _ have _ to be able to be there to take care of our child. You're a good person, Anakin. I don't want that to change because of me. I could never live with myself if I was the reason your light went away."

Anakin bites his lip and his eyes start to water. He blinks rapidly. "I don't know if I can keep going if I lose you. Even for our child," he says shakily. His hands grip hers tightly.

"You absolutely can. I believe in you. And you won't be alone - you'll have Obi-Wan."

At that, both of them glance over at him—Padmé’s eyes asking for support and Anakin's for reassurance. He stands and clasps a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "Of course you'll have me, Anakin. I'll be with you no matter what happens." Anakin's eyes continue to bore into his out a little wildly and the Force feels a bit turbulent around him from the strength of his emotions.  _ I swear on the Force itself, my heart. We'll stand together in this and in all things, _ Obi-Wan promises and braids in a few additional threads to their bond.

Anakin quickly follows suit.  _ Then I too swear on the Force that I'll be with you. For as long as you'll have me. Through darkness and light and whatever the universe throws at us. _

The bond glows brightly when their threads come together in the middle and then dims to a soft golden hue in the back of Obi-Wan's mind. When he opens his eyes—he hadn't even been aware of closing them but apparently he had—it's to see Anakin blinking his own eyes open. They look calmer now, steadier. There's still the fieriness that's always shone out of their blue depths but it's mostly banked for now. The flow of the Force settles around them.

Anakin smiles softly at him and leans in to kiss him. "Forever," he murmurs against his lips.

"Yes," Obi-Wan agrees. A thrill of giddiness shoots through him at the prospect and he's not sure if it's entirely his own or a combination of his and Anakin's feelings. He thinks he might have just done what he had gotten upset with Anakin about just a couple of days ago—made vows to someone that could conflict with his commitment to the Order. But this feels... _ right _ .  _ Listen to the Force. Let it guide you, _ Qui-Gon had always told him. He hopes that it's guiding him in the right direction in this.

Padmé clears her throat gently and they startle, looking over at where she's still standing by Anakin. She's holding a cup of tea in one hand now and resting the other on her stomach. Behind her, Threepio stands frozen, head tilted and eyes bright as he seems to watch them in perplexity. Padmé smiles softly at them. "I don't need to be sensitive to your Force to know that  _ something _ just happened. Should I say anything to officiate it?"

"No, I don't think so," Anakin says, leaning down to hug her. "We had renewed our old bond the other day and we were just strengthening it."

_ Oh, there was a bit more to that than just strengthening an existing bond, _ Obi-Wan thinks to himself. But he keeps silent on that for now. He wants to do a bit more research before bringing anything up.

"Really?" Anakin asks anyway, glancing over at him. Padmé looks between them, puzzled.

"What?" he says, a little startled. Then he frowns, realizing what Anakin must have meant. "Yes," he answers a little distractedly. Had they deepened the bond to the point where they could hear each other's thoughts that easily?

"Maybe," Anakin says with a puzzled look. "Because I just heard that. But I'm okay with that. I had wanted to do that originally."

"I know. I had meant for us to talk about it before going forward with it but I'm fine with it, too. It just worries me a bit that it wasn't our intention to do so just now and yet it happened," Obi-Wan says. To Padmé, who's looking increasingly more bewildered, he explains, "On top of adding to the bond, we exchanged what would probably be considered to be vows of fealty. And now it appears that our bond has gone deeper than we realized."

She raises one brow. "'Vows of fealty'? You mean like marriage vows?"

"Perhaps. Jedi haven't wed each other since before the Great Sith War thousands of years ago so many of those rituals have been lost. Or, more likely, locked away. The Order instituted our current Code after that war, in an attempt to prevent more Jedi from falling to the Dark Side which is how the Sith even came to be."

Padmé’s eyes widen. "Oh. That's...not common knowledge."

"No, it isn't."

"And that's why the Code needs to be updated," Anakin chimes in. "It's so old. The universe has changed in the past couple of thousand years, Obi-Wan." He looks at Obi-Wan pointedly.

"Yes, I know that—"

"—and the Jedi haven't changed with it. We're becoming relics and if it weren't for this war, we'd have probably been completely forgotten and made into myths."

Obi-Wan sighs and shakes his head. "I'm not saying that you're wrong and that we shouldn't re-examine the Code and possibly revise it. But we're in the middle of a war. This isn't the right time for that." The chrono on the wall chimes the hour and Obi-Wan curses mildly. "Speaking of, I need to get back to the Temple for a Council meeting. Thank you for your hospitality, Padmé."

"Any time, Obi-Wan."

"Wait," Anakin says while Obi-Wan is returning his empty tea cup to Threepio's tray. "I'll come back with you. I want to look into something at the Archives." Obi-Wan nods and waits for him by the door to the veranda where he had parked his speeder the night before. "Have a good day at the Senate, angel," Anakin says and kisses Padmé.

Padmé sighs. "It's rarely a good day in the Senate. There are so many representatives arguing for expansion of the army and to give even more power to the Chancellor. It's like they don't realize that every step in that direction takes us farther away from the democracy and the peace that the Republic was founded on."

"Well, the Chancellor's a good man. I'm sure he's aware of that," Anakin says.

"He may be aware of it and he may not want the power but he's accepting it all the same and he's not doing anything to promote a return to peaceful negotiations. I fear that he's being swayed by the Banking Clan and the Trade Federation. It's so dangerous for any one person to have that much power and authority over the whole Republic. Chancellor Palpatine may be a good person but what if something happens to him and someone less honorable takes the position and abuses that power? He needs to cede it back to the Senate and restore the system of checks and balance."

"I'm sure he will. And the Jedi would never let anyone with ill intent remain as Chancellor."

Padmé quirks an eyebrow at him. "The Jedi serve the Republic and the Chancellor is the head of the Republic. Would their hands not be tied?"

"Not necessarily," Obi-Wan speaks up. "You're right in that the Jedi do serve the Republic but part of that service is to protect the ideals that the Republic was founded on. If the Chancellor didn't uphold those ideals, the Jedi would take steps to correct that. And the Jedi's function is determined by the Senate, not the Chancellor."

Anakin frowns. "Yes, and that just means it takes longer for us to be sent to where we need to be because there's so much bureaucracy. Imagine how much more good we could have done if we could have acted faster, had to wait for fewer people to come to a consensus. Maybe the Chancellor  _ should _ have jurisdiction over the Jedi instead of the Senate."

Obi-Wan shakes his head. "Absolutely not. The Chancellor doesn't have any particular understanding of what we are or what we can do so he's in no better position than the Senate to make calls about where to send us. It's not ideal but at least with the Senate, there can be multiple opinions and multiple viewpoints shared. Liability is also shared. Imagine how many Chancellors would have been voted out of the office if they had sole discretion over what the Jedi did or where they were sent and angered a significant part of the Republic. The way it's done now, it's a majority vote so there's no one person to blame for less-than-satisfactory results and we don't have a constantly changing leader."

"Okay, fine. But then, if the Chancellor shouldn't be given authority over the Jedi and the Senate takes too long to make decisions, then the best solution would be for the Jedi to govern themselves. Shouldn't that be what the Council does? Why tether ourselves to the Republic? We could be helping so many more people if we could act on our own!"

"No, I don't think that would work, Anakin," Padmé says with a thoughtful frown. "People are frightened by the Jedi as it is and you're official representatives of the Republic. If the Jedi were an independent organization, they'd likely be seen as unwanted visitors as best and terrorists at worst."

"What? No way!" Anakin protests. "We would just be helping people!"

"There's two sides to every conflict," Padmé responds. "The one that you're not helping won't be very happy about your involvement. If you go around toppling governments, you'd just be wreaking havoc in the universe."

"Besides, the Jedi do help people, Anakin. Have we ever been sent someplace where we weren't needed and didn't do any good?" Obi-Wan says.

Anakin bites his lip and thinks, which is a pleasant surprise to Obi-Wan. He finally shakes his head reluctantly. "No, I suppose not."

Obi-Wan hums and nods. "The universe is a vast place. There's no end to the number of people who could use our help but the Jedi—and Force users, in general—have always been few and spread thinly. There just isn't any feasible way to help everyone who needs it. And no universally agreed upon system to determine who should get the help that we can offer. And since this war started, we've had to devote nearly all of our resources to it. But hopefully that will end soon now that Count Dooku is dead."

"Then would the Jedi support the Delegation of 2000?" Padmé asks. "We've put together a proposal that we'll be presenting to the Chancellor to request that he return his emergency powers to the Senate. It would be helpful to have some Jedi presence to help persuade him that now is a good time to do so...?"

Obi-Wan purses his lips. "You'll have to make that request formally to the Council. I think they'll support such a proposal but it may depend on the reports we receive from the field, whether or not the Separatists are rallying behind a new leader."

Padmé bows her head. "Of course. We do understand that the Chancellor has to make an informed decision about the state of the Republic. We only wish to present the idea to him early on."

"I'm sure he'll appreciate it," Anakin says. "He's always spoken about what a burden the emergency powers are and how saddened he is that it's had to come to this. Now that the end is near, he'll probably be happy to return to how things used to be."

"I hope you're right, Anakin," Padmé says somberly.

"And with that, we really must be going or I'm going to be late to the Council meeting. Good day, Padmé." Obi-Wan bows to her and climbs into the passenger seat of the speeder behind him.

Anakin smiles at him and then turns to Padmé and kisses her softly. "I'll let you know if I can come back tonight. But there's a couple of things I want to look into in the Temple and if we're going to leave in a couple of days to Naboo..."

"I understand," Padmé says.

"I love you," Anakin tells her and then hugs her tightly.

"I love you too," Padmé returns.

Obi-Wan watches them and wonders at how easy and natural such displays of affection seem to be for the two of them. Physical displays of compassion aren't discouraged within the Order but neither are they encouraged and so many of the Jedi, himself included, don't typically engage in such actions. He's gotten used to receiving Anakin's affections over the years because Anakin has always been prone to physical contact and he's learned long ago that physical contact—usually a hand on the shoulder or the back—is often the quickest and most effective way to soothe Anakin when he needs comfort and reassurance so he's gotten comfortable initiating those. But in this too, Anakin has been the exception to the rule.

Part of him thinks that it might be nice to be more physically affectionate with Anakin. Another part wonders how exactly he would go about doing so.

His musings are interrupted when Anakin hops into the driver's side of the speeder and flashes him a bright grin. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you get to your meeting on time."

Obi-Wan groans and fights off a wave of nausea at just the thought of the stunts Anakin's going to pull to accomplish that. "That's kind of what I was afraid of."

As they peel away from the veranda - going twenty kilometers per hour more than the posted limit - Anakin reaches over and tangles their fingers together. "This is okay, right?" he asks.

Obi-Wan's a bit taken aback - Anakin doesn't usually ask before he bestows some form of physical contact. "Yes, of course," he says, hoping his consternation isn't obvious. Has he reacted in any way that's made Anakin worry that his touch is unwelcome now?

Anakin just nods, though, and turns his head so he can keep an eye on the traffic lane and glance at Obi-Wan out of the corner of his eyes. "It's okay with me whenever you want to do it, too," he says. " _ If _ you want to, that is. You don't have to."

Obi-Wan feels a rush of love for him. He squeezes Anakin's gloved hand and brings it up to his lips to kiss the palm. It's his prosthetic hand so Obi-Wan doesn't know how much Anakin will be able to feel it but from the way his eyes are sparkling, the sentiment is appreciated. "Perhaps it's something we can figure out together," he says.

"Yeah," Anakin agrees. "No pressure, though. We can take our time with it. We'll have all the time in the universe once this war ends."

Obi-Wan nods. "Indeed." He hopes that's truly the case.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enough sap to rot your teeth out? I hope so because that's kind of what I was going for at the end. :D
> 
> One of the things I love about Padme is her dedication to her work and her political convictions and hopefully that came through here. Also, [Shiraya](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Shiraya/Legends) really is a Naboo moon goddess that Padme worshiped and she married someone who's basically in a religious order so...I figured that there's bound to be some conflict between her and Anakin at some point due to their differences in ideology.
> 
> And yes, Obi-Wan and Anakin kind of accidentally married each other. :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is lots of cuddling between our two favorite Jedi and other Jedi start making appearances.

Anakin keeps his hand clasped around Obi-Wan's for the duration of their flight back to the Temple, the worries he'd glimpsed in the other man's mind bouncing around in his head along with his worries about Padmé's future. He'd gotten used to Obi-Wan squeezing his shoulder or patting him on the back over the years; he had missed getting hugs like his mother used to give him but Obi-Wan wasn't his mother and he hadn't expected him to act like her. There was often a Force echo of  _ warmthcomfortaffection _ whenever he addressed Anakin (though that was sometimes tinged with frustration or amusement or worry depending on what Anakin had gotten up to) that made up for the lack of physical hugs.

He hadn't thought about it in awhile but now that he's remembering it, he realizes that that comforting echo had come less and less frequently as he had gotten older. And Obi-Wan had gotten harder to read. He frowns. Why had Obi-Wan started pulling away from him? Was it because he had revealed his infatuation with him when he was still a Padawan?

"No," Obi-Wan says and Anakin startles out of his thoughts. "It's customary for the Master to pull back on the training bond as the Padawan nears his or her Trials. You didn't need as much guidance from me and it would have been more intrusive than helpful by that point. It had nothing to do with your feelings towards me—it's not unusual for Padawans to develop emotional and even romantic attachments to their Masters. They generally fade once the Padawans become Knights and start going on missions on their own."

"Mine never did," Anakin says.

"Yes, well, we didn't quite have the traditional separation because of the war. And I clearly underestimated the strength of your attachments."

"Not as perceptive as you had once thought, huh?"

"Anakin, my dear, you never cease to surprise me and I don't expect you ever will. Even when I think I know what feats of recklessness and idiocy you're going to pull, you still find ways to shock me. It was my own fault for even considering that you might do anything in the expected way."

"What can I say? I like ruining expectations. And plans and traditions are boring and restrictive. If you stick too closely to them, you can't adapt to the situation you actually find yourself in."

"Mm. That is why I've always striven to concoct the simplest, least risky plan possible in battles. So that when you veer off course and raise the risk level by a factor of ten, it's still within somewhat acceptable parameters."

Anakin chortles. "I'm quite sure there are those who would disagree with you on all counts. But see? That's why we're the best team the Order has to offer." He senses Obi-Wan wanting to roll his eyes but restraining himself.

He absently navigates around a slow speeder in front of them and then hops over into an intersecting lane. Obi-Wan idly rubs his thumb over the forearm of Anakin's prosthetic and he wishes for a moment that he isn't wearing his glove because it dulls the sensors, which are already more limited than natural skin.

As if he had heard him—and he probably did, given the new depth of their connection—Obi-Wan snaps open the buckles of his glove and pulls it off. When he closes his hands around Anakin's again, Anakin sucks in a breath at the feel of Obi-Wan's calloused fingers and the warmth of his skin; it always takes a couple of seconds for the sensors on the durasteel to recalibrate after he removes his glove.

He maybe takes the next corner more sharply than he needs to just to feel Obi-Wan reflexively squeeze his hand. He sees Obi-Wan shoot him a glare out of the corner of his eye and grins.

"What are we going to do about Padmé?" he asks. He can see that she worries about him and it makes him love her all the more that she sees so much goodness in him and has such faith in him but he thinks she's worrying needlessly about the risks involved in their trying to prevent her death. And even if there were risks...well, anything worth getting is not without some risk. Padmé is such an important figure, not just to him personally, but to the galaxy that she  _ has _ to live. The entire universe would be a much darker place without her in it.

"We'll keep researching," Obi-Wan says and it sounds like a promise. "There's quite a bit we can try without turning to the Dark Side."

"Do you think the Dark Side would have a solution?" he asks out of curiosity as he navigates into the Temple hangar bay. If they do, surely there's a Light side version that can accomplish the same thing.

Obi-Wan shakes his head. "I doubt it. And if they do, it won't be one we'll want to take. The Dark Side leads to chaos and destruction, not healing. Any solution they can offer would surely only lead to a worse scenario for all involved. There  _ have _ been rumors that the Force can be used to extend a user's lifespan but even if that were true, I don't see how it would work for a non-sensitive." Anakin sighs and Obi-Wan pats his hand once before letting go of it. "Don't worry. I have a couple of ideas that could help."

Anakin lets that soothe him; Obi-Wan's always been the planner between them, with multiple contingencies in place in case one doesn't work out. He glances at the chrono on the wall and smiles smugly. "See, we're back in plenty of time for you to get to your Council meeting! What did I tell you?"

"Yes," Obi-Wan says dryly. "And miraculously in one piece too."

Anakin rolls his eyes. "Always have to have the last word, don't you?"

"Yes," Obi-Wan says with a smirk.

Anakin huffs out a laugh as he pulls the speeder into one of the docks. They climb out and bow their heads at each other. "Have a good day, Obi-Wan. I'll see you later."

"Indeed. I'm sure you'll have a much more entertaining day in the Archives than I will in the meeting," Obi-Wan says wryly.

Anakin watches him enter the Temple proper and then goes to collect Artoo. He briefs the droid on their mission for the day as they make their way to the Archives. At the door, he pauses and looks down at Artoo who swivels his dome at him in question. "So you're sure you know what to do?"

Artoo beeps exasperatedly and pushes through the doors. Anakin follows closely behind, keeping an eye out for Master Nu. They make straight for the terminals in the middle of the room. It's a little too exposed for Anakin's taste, especially since they're about to break into the Temple records but he figures they have a better chance at cracking one of these than in trying to sneak into Master Nu's office or the holocron vault.

He sits down at one of the terminals at the end so that Artoo can pull up next to him. Then he opens the casing to expose the socket for Artoo to use and the droid gets to work. Windows and files flash across the screen in front of him, too quickly for him to follow. So instead, he focuses on locating Master Nu's Force signature and tracking her in the Archives. When he senses that she's about to step out into the open space between shelves and see him and, more importantly, Artoo, he jumps up and hurries over to intercept her.

"Master Nu!" he says—a little too loudly going by the glare she levels at him. "Sorry!" he whispers, though there isn't currently anyone else in the Archive besides the three of them.

"Yes, Knight Skywalker? I wasn't expecting to see you in here during your downtime." She says this politely but Anakin can practically hear the wariness in her voice.

"I'm looking into something. About, um, Force bonds. The different types and how they're formed and…." he trails off when he sees that she's still eyeing him with suspicion. "It's for Obi-Wan," he says instead and her eyes soften, expression relaxing into fondness.

"Ah, of course. Has he changed his mind about researching Force-sensitive pregnancies then? I had set aside some old tomes for him."

"Oh no, he'll still want those. And I'm sure he's very appreciative of your assistance in that. You're so...thoughtful and organized...and helpful and....anyway, the Force bonding research is a little side project. Questions about it came up during a discussion and you know how he gets."

_ What _ are  _ you doing? _ Obi-Wan asks him through their bond.  _ Are you  _ flirting  _ with Master Nu? Please tell me that's not what you're doing. _

"Yes, of course," Master Nu's saying. "Always curious, that one. Such a thirst for knowledge!"

"Yup, that's Obi-Wan. Never gets tired of learning," Anakin says out loud. Mentally, he says  _ Of course I'm not flirting with her! She's ninety-something years old! I draw the line at, well,  _ you _ when it comes to romantic anything with another Jedi. _

_ Are you saying I'm old? _

_ Hush, you're distracting me. This is for a good cause. And shouldn't you be attending to your Council meeting? _

_ I am but it's becoming quite tedious. We're dispatching a battalion of troops to reinforce Quinlan's because they've sustained some losses. But we can't agree on how many of what type of bombs and blasters to send them with. I've already given them my thoughts on it. Whatever you're doing sounds much more interesting. _

"I think it's wonderful. And he's gathered so much data throughout his travels, expanded the Archives so much. I'm rather hoping that when he's retired from active fieldwork, he'll consider coming here and taking on the mantle of Chief Librarian," Master Nu is saying.

_ What do you think? Chief Librarian? _ Anakin sends to Obi-Wan with a hint of his amusement. He can't imagine Obi-Wan ever retiring from fieldwork, no matter how much he enjoys spending time in the Archives and researching.

Obi-Wan gives a mental shrug.  _ You never know. Oh, they're calling me. I think it's time for a vote. _ And then his presence fades back to the constant background hum that Anakin's had in his head since they had further solidified their bond that morning.

"I'll pass on that thought to him," he says to Master Nu. "Do you think you could direct me to where I could find some information on Force bonding?" he asks since he's already here and it  _ is _ something else he wants to look up. He makes sure to stand between her and Artoo the whole time she's pointing out where he might be able to find information on Force bonds in general and more advanced information on Force bonds that might be of particular interest to Obi-Wan.

When she finally leaves him to it, he turns back to find Artoo waiting for him, computer interface arm already retracted. "Finished so quickly?" he asks, mostly just to hear Artoo's indignant beeping at daring to suggest that he was slow. "My bad, buddy," he says with a small laugh when Artoo's tirade ends. He claps a hand to the droid's dome. "Let's go find a viewing room."

They settle on one in a back corner of the Archives and Artoo projects the files he downloaded onto the wall.

"Let's start at the beginning, Artoo," Anakin says and Artoo obediently scrolls to the very first file, labeled "Intake 943 PRR." It opens onto a youngling intake form, which Anakin vaguely remembers from when he had been accepted as a Padawan. "'Name: Obi-Wan Kenobi'," he reads. "'Planet of Origin: Stewjon. Parents' names: redacted.' Redacted?" he exclaims. Then he groans. "Figures." He rolls his eyes at the Jedi's secrecy but moves on. He's got thirty-eight years of records to get through, after all.

 

* * *

 

Obi-Wan manages, more or less, to pay attention to the rest of the Council meeting after Mace had to call him several times to pull his focus back so that he could cast his vote. Whatever Anakin's found in his old records is making him cycle through excessive fondness and burning rage, though, and it's highly distracting. He's never looked through those records himself so he doesn't quite know what's in them. He doesn't think there's anything that should incite such volatile emotions but then again, it  _ is _ Anakin who's looking through them. And he's capable of working himself up over nothing at all. Obi-Wan almost leaves the meeting early to go check on him, but every time he asks him if he's okay, Anakin says that he's fine. And the feelings of rage come and go rather quickly so Obi-Wan contents himself with monitoring Anakin's surface level feelings to make sure they're not getting stronger.

He forces himself to sit still through the meeting and focus on the discussions at hand. He's rather eager to leave by the time it ends but as Force would have it, Mace stops him.

"Walk with me, Obi-Wan. I wish to get your thoughts on something," Mace requests.

Obi-Wan frowns but acquiesces. The exit the Council chamber and make their way to the residential sector of the Temple. It isn't until they've passed the main entrance than Mace finally speaks.

"As you know," he starts, "we've had some reservations regarding the Chancellor. The future remains clouded and a lot of the darkness seems to center on him and the rest of the Senate."

Obi-Wan nods. This has been a topic of Council debates since before he was sent to the Outer Rim, but without resolution.

"We feel that the Chancellor no longer trusts us. Most of us."

"Oh?" Obi-Wan asks. That's new.

Mace nods. "He's been secluding himself with his advisors. The Jedi are present to give report on missions but many decisions are made without us. He's starting to rely on his own agents more than the Jedi for information gathering and to execute his will, at least within the Core worlds."

"Well," Obi-Wan says, trying to think of a reasonable explanation. "The Jedi have been spread thin in the past couple of months. It could just be that he's prioritizing our time to the war efforts abroad."

"Perhaps."

"But you don't think that's it. Or, not all of it."

"No. Many of us feel that the Chancellor is trying to sever the relationship between the Senate and the Order."

Obi-Wan remembers Anakin asking just that morning,  _ Why tether ourselves to the Republic? We could be helping so many more people if we could act on our own! _ "Well, that might not be such a terrible thing. For thousands of years, the Jedi have served as peacekeepers for the Republic but perhaps it's time for a change. Perhaps the Republic will be maintaining its own peace with the army and the Jedi will be able to conduct our own affairs instead of the Republic's."

Mace frowns. "The Order's mission is to support the Republic. And it was made to be that way to prevent a recurrence of the Sith War. You know this."

Hearing the same argument that he had given come from Mace makes him realize how rote it sounds. Just how was serving the Republic meant to prevent another war? Given that they're currently in the midst of a war, it doesn't seem to have helped. Committing themselves to be supposed public servants was meant to keep Jedi from going to the Dark Side but Xanatos, Bruck, and Dooku all turned to the Dark regardless. He thinks about Padmé saying that people would be frightened of the Jedi if they were to act as independent agents rather than as ambassadors of the Senate and wonders if perhaps the real reason the Jedi had placed themselves under Senate authority was because of fear—fear from the public and fear among the Jedi themselves at the level of destruction they're capable of. But all that would have done was shift liability and accountability for their actions to the Senate. Which also would have given power over the Jedi to a body of people who don't truly appreciate the Force and what the Jedi  _ could _ do with it.

"It's been thousands of years since that war, Mace," Obi-Wan finally says. "Taking that path may have been what the Jedi felt was necessary immediately after the war but many things have changed in the universe since then. It may not be what's needed any more." He thinks about some of the injustices he's witnessed on planets that he hadn't been able to correct they were outside the scope of his mission, the slavery on the Outer Rim worlds, the illicit drug trades, the oppression of people by corrupt governments that remain in power only because no one on the planet had enough support to overthrow them and because the Republic didn't want to interfere when the ruling government provided them with goods and services that they liked. "In fact, it may be time for the Jedi to change too and focus on helping the people who need it rather than serving politicians."

Mace shakes his head. "The Order's mission isn't what's in question right now. Right now, we have to determine what it is the Chancellor is up to. And we can't get close enough to him to find out anymore. But Skywalker is still in his confidence. We'd like for him to observe the Chancellor and report on his activities to us. Well, to you. This mission will be off the record."

"What? You want Anakin to spy on the Chancellor?" Obi-Wan feels dread curl in his stomach. "No. Absolutely not. Anakin sees the Chancellor as a friend and he has for years."

"And that's exactly why he's the best person to do this."

Obi-Wan flashes back to the argument they'd had the other night over Obi-Wan putting the mission above his relationship with Anakin and he knows, he just knows, that this would not end well if the Jedi were to pursue it. "He would never betray the Chancellor's trust like that and asking him to do so would cause a rift between Anakin and the Jedi."

"Anakin is a Jedi Knight, Obi-Wan. He'll put the mission first over whatever friendship he thinks he has with the Chancellor."

"No," Obi-Wan says, starting to feel a little hysterical. He had never shied away from choosing the most expedient method of completing missions even at the cost of personal relationships—which he had considered to be of less importance in the grand scheme of things—but suddenly the thought of asking Anakin to do so is appalling, particularly now that he has a better idea of how much Anakin values relationships. "No, he will not. Anakin certainly would  _ not _ be able to separate his friendship with the Chancellor from the mission. He's not even very good at stealth missions. Get Master Tholme to do this. He's trained for this type of work and he has no personal connections to the situation."

"But it is Anakin's  _ personal connections _ that we need."

"You would be— _ I _ would be, because I'm assuming that you're coming to me now so that  _ I _ can be the one to relay this mission to him?—I would be asking him to betray his loyalties." His hands clench into fists. "Anakin would never agree to that," he reiterates flatly.

"His loyalty is to the Jedi," Mace says sharply.

_ Everything okay, my starbird? Your emotions are getting quite strong. _ Anakin's anxiety washes over him.

Obi-Wan takes a deep breath, forces himself to calm down and send soothing thoughts back.  _ I'm okay, Anakin. Just having a bit of a disagreement with Mace. _

_ Sounds like more than just 'a bit', _ Anakin opines but his mental presence subsides.

Obi-Wan refocuses on Mace, who's saying, "You're the one he listens to most. He wouldn't refuse the mission if it came from you."

But it would put a strain on their relationship. And Obi-Wan's not willing to do that again. He takes a deep breath to settle his emotions. Then he says evenly, "So. The Council have already voted." Mace nods. "And the majority agreed." Mace nods again. "Except for me."

"Master Plo Koon opposed this as well," Mace admits.

Obi-Wan nods. "But everyone already had a say. And you waited to speak with me last because you knew that I would be most resistant."

"I knew you would speak on behalf of Anakin and cast a nay vote. More and more you have been Anakin's partisan in front of the Council," Mace says with more than a hint of rebuke in his voice.

"I've been Anakin's partisan since I started training him. Many on the Council viewed him with suspicion and distrust. That's no way for a boy to grow up."

"And you have been far too attached to him from the beginning. That is no way for a Jedi to be trained. And you have been more and more defiant of the Council's mandates when it comes to Skywalker. You have too much of Qui-Gon in you."

Obi-Wan presses his lips together. "Is that undesirable? Qui-Gon may have been a maverick Jedi but he was a firm believer and follower of the Force's guidance."

_ You're  _ really _ distressed. What's happening? _ Anakin pipes up again, sounding concerned.

Obi-Wan shakes his head.  _ I'm fine, Anakin. Don't worry about it. _

Mace narrows his eyes at him. "What are you saying, Obi-Wan?"

_ You're not fine. You're upset. I can _ feel _ it. Where are you? Are you by our quarters? I'll meet you there. _ Obi-Wan gets the sense that Anakin's standing and instructing Artoo to pause the playback and shut off the projector.

_ No, Anakin, you really don't have to. _ Obi-Wan protests but he knows it's a lost cause. He sighs and says to Mace, "Nothing. For now. I have to go. I will speak with you at a later time. But I really must insist that you and the rest of the Council reconsider your tactic. I cannot condone it and I will not be your messenger to Anakin."

_ I want to, _ Anakin replies stubbornly and Obi-Wan doesn't doubt that he's already on his way, long legs eating up the distance from the Archives easily.

Mace purses his lips. "Very well. Your protests are duly noted." He bows slightly in farewell and turns back down the hall they had just walked through, robes billowing out with the force of his disapproval.

Obi-Wan frowns, feeling disquieted, and makes for their rooms to make tea while he waits for Anakin to come storming in.

 

* * *

 

Anakin stalks down the corridors of the Temple, heedless of the Padawans and Initiates dodging out of his way with alarm. Artoo rolls sedately behind him, chirping out greetings to some of the Jedi that he recognizes.

Anakin's mind is a jumble of confused worry over what's upset Obi-Wan and constant loops of some of the holovids Artoo had projected for him from Obi-Wan's Temple records:

_ A calm and poised Obi-Wan at eleven standing before the Council and having to explain that he'd fought with Bruck Chun again because the other Initiate was taunting Garen Muln. _

_ Obi-Wan in a duel with Bruck Chun, fighting fiercely with moves that were clearly better than the bigger boy's. Obi-Wan winning the duel was overlaid with an audio of Qui-Gon's voice saying that though he was talented in dueling, he was too dangerous to train as a Jedi given the level of passion he had displayed. _

_ Obi-Wan at twelve standing before the Council and being told that because he hadn't been chosen by a Master he was to be sent to join the Agricorps on Bandomeer. Even through the grainy recording Anakin could see the tears that Obi-Wan was holding back but the boy maintained his composure the entire meeting. _

_ Qui-Gon in the next video reporting that Obi-Wan had been taken hostage by his former apprentice and that the request for Jedi aid had been a trap. _

_ A video dated just a couple of months later of Qui-Gon standing before the Council and holding out Obi-Wan's lightsaber, saying that his Padawan had chosen to stay behind on Melida/Daan. _

_ Obi-Wan kneeling before Master Yoda on Naboo insisting that he  _ will _ train Anakin, even against the Council's wishes. _

_ Obi-Wan with a fourteen-year-old Anakin before the Council debriefing after a mission and then staying after Anakin's sent out with a strong suggestion by the Council that he further work on his control of the Force. Obi-Wan sharply telling the Council _ — _ telling Master Windu and Master Yoda _ — _ that Anakin was coming along very well in his training and that he would take their suggestions into consideration but that he would thank them to give their criticisms of his teaching to him directly instead of to Anakin in the future. _

Anakin blinks rapidly to clear his eyes. He's emotional right now, he knows. He feels infuriated and righteous and affectionate and grateful and loved and loving and he wants more than anything to just go straight to the Council chamber and give them a piece of his mind over how Obi-Wan's been treated over the years. But he forces that urge aside—and thinks that Obi-Wan would be proud of him for doing so—in favor of going to Obi-Wan who's upset right now.

When he enters their apartment, the familiar aroma of sapir tea—Obi-Wan's favorite—hits him and the scent helps him refocus his mind. He pauses for a microsecond at the entryway while Artoo zips around him over to a wall outlet and plugs in to charge. Obi-Wan calls out a distracted greeting from the kitchenette and Anakin finds himself drawn over like a missile to a homing beacon.

When he spies the other man, he grits his teeth. Obi-Wan's shoulders are slumped and his head hangs down; he looks tired and like he's carrying the weight of the galaxy on his back. What had he and Mace been talking about?

Anakin wants to wrap him up in a blanket and bundle him off to bed. He wants to put up a shield around him to protect him from the world. He wants to go find Mace and demand to know what kind of burden the Jedi are placing on his former Master  _ now _ .

Instead, he walks up to Obi-Wan, throws his arms around him, and pulls him back against his chest.

"Sithspit!" Obi-Wan hisses when the unexpected jostling causes him to splash some of the hot tea onto his hand instead of into the cup he's holding. Anakin sends a silent apology. He floods their bond with all the affection and love that he feels for him and channels the Force into what he pictures to be a rushing river around them to separate them from the rest of the Force users.

Obi-Wan stiffens, emanating surprise and wonder and uncertainty through their bond. "Anakin, what in blazes are you doing?"

"Hugging you," Anakin says and drops his chin onto Obi-Wan's shoulder. "Is that okay?" He buries his nose in the crook of his neck, breathing in the wholly familiar and unique combination of lightsaber, sandalwood, and sapir tea that belongs to Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan shivers. "It is but  _ why _ ?" He sounds off-kilter and bewildered and it's this along with his earlier hesitancy over physical affection that makes Anakin want to take up his lightsaber and challenge the whole Order to a duel. He pushes that thought away. Obi-Wan wouldn't want Anakin to fight the whole Order.

"Because I want to," Anakin says. He congratulates himself for not screaming it. "Because you're upset by something. Because you had a terrible childhood and I don't think you got enough hugs during it."

He feels Obi-Wan gradually, methodically, relax his muscles and slouch into Anakin's hold. "That's a little dramatic," he says lightly. "I didn't have a  _ terrible _ childhood."

"Hmph, I don't even know where to start!" Anakin says, not in any mood to banter about semantics. Agitation starts building up again. "Your parents gave you up to the Jedi when you were six  _ months _ old. Six months, Obi-Wan! I knew the Jedi took children young but  _ six months _ ? You never even knew your mom! Force, no wonder you never seemed to understand why I missed mine so much!"

"Is that what's bothering you?" Obi-Wan covers Anakin's left hand with his own, rubbing soothing circles into the skin. Anakin shivers at the sensation, the warmth and pressure of Obi-Wan's touch grounding him to their conversation rather than his own thoughts and memories.

"Not all of it," Anakin says bitterly, "I just thought I'd start at the beginning."

Obi-Wan sighs. "Then first of all, the Jedi don't  _ take _ children. You know that. We encourage parents of Force sensitive children to consider sending them to us for training. But it's completely voluntary and we don't pressure them to do so if they don't wish to."

Anakin does know that. He's gone on a couple of missions with Obi-Wan to test Force-sensitive children and to speak with their parents about what the Jedi do. He's never understood how some parents can give their children away—it's not something he could ever see himself doing—but he can see how difficult of a decision it is for them so he tries to respect that it's the way of the Jedi and accept it (or at least, to not throw a fuss while in front of the parents and make things even more difficult for them; this separation from family is one of the perpetual points of disagreement he has with the Order). But it's nearly impossible to just  _ accept _ it when he thinks about  _ Obi-Wan _ as a baby being given away. "It's not  _ voluntary _ for the children! They— _ you _ —had no  _ choice _ in the matter at all! Your whole future was decided for you by someone else!"

"You mean by my  _ parents _ ?" Obi-Wan asks sardonically. "Anakin, it's not as if they were abandoning me or that I was unwanted. I was Force-sensitive and they knew that I could be of great service to the Republic. So they gave me into the care of the Jedi. I'm sure they believed that it was the best choice for everyone. It's not as if I could have made the choice myself when I was just a baby."

"Exactly! You were too young to make the choice! But it should have been  _ you _ who chose, not them! The Jedi shouldn't be taking them that young! What's even the point of doing so?"

"Because learning how to control the Force and use it properly is very complicated and requires years of education. Children learn much quicker at a young age; their brains are primed to absorb new information and assimilate it. By teaching them early, manipulating the Force becomes second nature. It's much harder to do at a later age."

"Well, I started later and I did fine, didn't I?" Anakin asks, and then feels a spike of uncertainty. What if he hasn't been doing well after all? The Council had been so set against him being trained. What if they had been right and his whole argument had no basis?

But Obi-Wan just squeezes his hand. "Of course you did. Anakin, you're an exceptional Jedi. Better than I could have imagined. And better than I could ever be."

Anakin shakes his head. "No, never better than you."

"You are, though. You're strong—in the Force and in your conviction to help people. You're the most compassionate Jedi in the Order, though you're also reckless and stubborn."

"I learned all that from you."

"Nevertheless, I'm proud of the person you've become. I'm proud to fight and stand by your side. But you are an exception. Not all children would be able to learn as much as you have in as short of a time."

"How do you know if you don't try?" Anakin persists.

"I—" Obi-Wan starts, and then he stops. "I must be losing my touch. I don't know, Anakin," he admits and Anakin wants to crow about winning another argument. He settles for radiating his happiness into their bond. "Don't brag, it's unbecoming," Obi-Wan chides but there's a smile in his words and a sense of pride in their bond. "It hadn't worked a long time ago but the current system's been in place for hundreds of years."

Anakin sobers and tightens his hold on Obi-Wan. "And because of that system, you grew up without your parents. You never got to spend any time with them. Do you even know what their names are?" Part of him wants to track down Obi-Wan's parents to see what they're like. He doesn't know if he would be more likely to tell them (at length) what a great Jedi Obi-Wan is or if he would be more likely to demand to know how they could  _ possibly _ give him away like they didn't care about him. His heart starts pounding with the strength of his anger and he feels lightheaded.

"Steady, Anakin." Obi-Wan turns his head and Anakin pulls back just enough to meet his eyes. He arches his eyebrows and takes a slow, deep breath.

Anakin takes the hint and follows suit. They take a couple more breaths together, falling in sync with each other. With each inhale, they sink deeper into their bond and Anakin feels himself calm down more and more as he immerses himself in Obi-Wan's mind and welcomes Obi-Wan into his.

"I don't know my parents' identities, though I could have asked at any time. The Council keeps the information in a holocron for safekeeping but they don't withhold it from Jedi who ask though they do want to know why it's being requested," Obi-Wan says and Anakin feels an uptick of ire but it disperses before it has a chance to really set in. "I've never wanted to know," Obi-Wan continues. "I've never had a relationship with them, I don't have memories of them, I don't have any plans to find them. I've never missed them the way you missed your mother because I never had them around. So their names would mean nothing more to me than any others."

"But aren't you curious about who they are? Why they gave you away? What they're like?"

"Not particularly. None of us had parents growing up. I never felt like I was missing anything. We rarely even saw non-Jedi until we became Padawans and left the Temple."

Anakin was aghast. "But surely, you learned about how other children had parents. Didn't you wonder what happened to yours?"

Obi-Wan's voice takes on an academic tone. "We had several courses on intergalactic society and cultures. Family units are structured differently across the galaxy so we knew that at least some of us had come from societies where we would have had parents had we stayed there. But it didn't matter. We were meant to become Jedi, we had to devote ourselves to learning how to use the Force, the crechemasters made sure our needs were met, our classes taught us the rules of society and how to interact properly with other beings, and we had companionship in each other. We had everything we needed."

Anakin's heart clenches. "Everything except love and affection and unconditional acceptance. Someone to say they were proud of you, someone to hug you when you were upset, kiss you goodnight, tuck you into bed, tell you stories, tell you that everything's going to be okay." He feels sick, imagining all the younglings growing up in the creche under the guidance of elderly Masters who were kind but distant, hearing only that attachments were wrong and that their emotions were going to lead them to the Dark Side. He doesn't realize he's crying until he feels teardrops spill out of his eyes and down his cheeks.

"Anakin?" Obi-Wan says, sounding and feeling worried. He raises one hand to cup his cheek and Anakin turns into it, presses a kiss to the palm. "It really wasn't that bad."

"You're just saying that because you don't know what you're missing," Anakin mutters. "You were basically raised just like the clones, to serve a single purpose. And the Jedi are treated the same. We're given orders and expected to follow them, not question them; mission objectives that we're expected to complete without any divergence. We're sent out at the head of an army, and never mind that some Jedi aren't suited to lead soldiers or fight in battle, never mind that Jedi have been dying left and right in this war, never mind that we haven't even had time to really train the next generation of Initiates, we're just out there fighting this neverending droid army that they keep  _ making in factories _ and no one ever asks  _ why _ or  _ how _ things ended up this way!"

Obi-Wan stills.

"I'm sorry," Anakin says, breathing harshly. His heart pounds so loud he can hear it like a syncopated drumbeat in his ears. "This just... really got to me."

"No," Obi-Wan says slowly, thoughts racing through his head and spilling over into Anakin's though they're going too fast for him to catch any of it. "You've given me a lot to think about."

Anakin's startled. "Really?"

"Yes. Do you want some of this tea?" he asks suddenly, tilting his head up to look at Anakin out of the corner of his eyes.

"That better not have any caff in it. You had far too much of that yesterday," Anakin responds disapprovingly.

"I think I'm old enough to decide what's too much for me, thank you," Obi-Wan says curtly, but his gaze is soft and warm.

"I'll dump all the stim teas into the compactor if I have to," Anakin threatens.

Obi-Wan pinches his arm and he yelps at the sudden, sharp pain. "Don't even  _ think _ about touching my tea."

Anakin pouts against his skin and sighs loudly. "Fine, fine. I'll just have to find some other way to keep you away from caff then." He deliberately pictures himself very creatively helping Obi-Wan stay awake late at night and bites his lip when he feels Obi-Wan flushing.

Obi-Wan says, sounding a little strangled, "Very well. That's acceptable. Now, do you want some of this tea or not?" He gently rubs at the spot that he'd pinched.

Anakin shakes his head. "I'll just take a couple of sips from yours."

"I'll get you a cup," Obi-Wan says instead. Anakin presses a smile into the curve of his neck. As he stretches over to one of the cabinets to grab a second cup, Anakin shifts with him, not wanting to loosen his grip.  _ This is quite a long hug, _ Obi-Wan thinks.

_ Of course it is. It's going to be an epic hug, to make up for all the ones you didn't get. _

Obi-Wan chuckles and pours out a second cup of tea. He holds it out for Anakin to take but Anakin just shakes his head and opens his mouth. "Seriously?" Obi-Wan asks, sounding both exasperated and fond. But he sinks into their bond a bit more and Anakin can tell he's using it to somehow gage where Anakin's mouth is in relation to his hand and tilt the cup at the right angle for Anakin to take a sip. He sets it down when Anakin indicates he's had enough and picks up his own cup.

"Now, what got  _ you _ so upset earlier?" he asks, remembering the unusual flare of anger he'd felt from Obi-Wan while he and Artoo had been in the Archives.

Obi-Wan sighs heavily. "It's been diverted, I hope." But,  _ they want you to report on the Chancellor's activities, _ he shares.  _ He's shut the Jedi out of his decisions and that's making them worry. _ His thoughts are tinged with regret and worry and indignation.

_ They want me to WHAT? _ Anakin responds. He can't believe it. The Chancellor's done nothing to warrant the Council's suspicions, why would they be asking him to spy on him?  _ What is it that they think he's doing?! Besides trying to hold the Republic together during this kriffin' war?! _ He only realizes he's tightened his arms further around Obi-Wan when he feels the other man wince. He loosens his grip with a silent apology but buries his nose in the crook of Obi-Wan's neck.  _ I don't understand, _ he complains. And he doesn't. They're all on the same side, fighting for the same cause, why does it feel like things are splitting apart between them?

_ I know, _ Obi-Wan soothes.  _ I don't believe the Council  _ knows _ of anything untoward about the Chancellor. But it makes them nervous not to know where the Republic is heading. The Jedi are, for better or worse, on the front lines right now and if we don't know what to expect, we're more vulnerable. But it wasn't fair of them to ask  _ you _ to be the one to do this. _

_ But you don't think it's unfair for them to have someone spying on one of our own. _ Anakin feels very tired suddenly.

_ He's not really one of  _ ours _. He may care for you and consider  _ you _ to be a friend but that doesn't necessarily mean that he sees the rest of the Order in the same way. And he's an elected official, which means he has constituents he needs to answer to and his own political career to think of which means he may be making decisions that the Jedi don't agree with. And the Jedi don't get a vote in the Senate. The only way their concerns are heard are by direct communication with the Chancellor. Which they haven't been able to do. _

Anakin's heart sinks.  _ So you think I should do what they're asking. _

_ No, _ Obi-Wan thinks emphatically, surprising him.  _ I think you should not be involved at all. Whatever the Council's concerns, they can find their own ways of assuaging it. Asking you to do it may be expedient for them but it's not right and I won't let them pull you into this. _

Anakin goes boneless in relief. He's not going to have to go behind the Chancellor's back after all. He doesn't like that the Council is second-guessing the Chancellor but there are many things the Council does that he doesn't like. He's gotten used to the feeling.

It does make sense, though, what Obi-Wan is saying. Once he would have gotten angry that Obi-Wan seemed to be questioning the Chancellor as well but he knows that Obi-Wan is only thinking about the good of the Republic and he trusts Obi-Wan. And he's right. The Jedi can't be blind to the Chancellor and the Senate's plans in the war. If they don't work together to end this war, it'll just keep dragging on.  _ Maybe we can talk to him. Directly. See what's causing the division. If anyone can bring us all back on the same page, it's you. _

Obi-Wan feels hesitant about that, though.  _ Let's not rush into involving ourselves. It may not be necessary and we've got a lot on our plate already. _

_ Mm, okay. If you say so, _ Anakin thinks, feeling agreeable.

They continue to stand there for some time—Anakin with his arms wrapped around Obi-Wan, chest plastered to his back, cheek resting on his shoulder, and eyes closed against the harsh light of the kitchen; Obi-Wan with one hand absently stroking the back of Anakin's left hand, eyes staring unseeingly at the wall while he thinks. Anakin can sense him reviewing missions from before and after the start of the war, Council briefings and debriefings, interactions with the Senate and the Chancellor. He's not sure if Obi-Wan's looking for anything in particular but he's content to just relish the closeness with Obi-Wan and drift in the sanctuary of their bond.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The part where Mace says that Obi-Wan has become Anakin's partisan - I saw a screenshot of a scene from one of the books where Yoda and Mace were saying that about Obi-Wan and it stuck with me. So that idea wasn't mine. I'm just taking it as a piece of canon (or legends canon?) that fits in with the fic.
> 
> Ah, and the sapir tea being Obi-Wan's favorite - that tea was Qui-Gon's favorite so....in my head, in this AU, Obi-Wan developed a taste for it over the years and kept drinking it even after Qui-Gon died. It makes him a bit melancholic and nostalgic but also comforted, like Qui-Gon is still there with him, guiding him. But Anakin has no idea that tea used to be Qui-Gon's favorite, he just thinks that Obi-Wan likes it and must have developed a liking for it sometime in his life.
> 
> Lastly, a note about the calendar year in Obi-Wan's file. Most notations about year use BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin) for the prequels. That obviously wouldn't work in the prequel timeline because the Battle of Yavin hasn't happened. I couldn't find a reference for other calendar notations so I made up PRR for Post [Ruusan Reformation](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Ruusan_Reformation) which happened 1,000 BBY. That was when the Jedi Order reorganized into their current system of giving up military roles, training children from birth, and centralizing to the Temple on Coruscant. [And 57 BBy (Obi-Wan's year of birth) corresponds to 943 after the Ruusan Reformation](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/57_BBY) so that's where the number came from.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More cuddles, a plan to save Padme's life (if it even needs saving but no one's taking any chances on that), and a meeting with the Chancellor *dundunDUN*

The door chime startles him out of his thoughts. He looks over and stretches his Force senses out through the fog that Anakin's surrounded them both with at the same time Anakin says, "It's Bant." His words come out slow and a little slurred. Obi-Wan furrows his brow. "I heard her door open and close just now." His senses confirm that Anakin's right.

"Enter!" he calls out and mentally triggers the door to open for his old friend. "Are you falling asleep on me?" he asks Anakin, feeling amused.

"Noooo," Anakin says, dragging the word out.

"Well then, do you want to let go now?"

He feels Anakin pout through their bond. "No. I'm not done hugging you." As if to demonstrate his lack of readiness, Anakin shifts to get even closer to him and adjusts his grip so that it's more snug. Obi-Wan feels almost completely engulfed by him, like he's wearing an overly warm and heavy coat. It's...not unpleasant. And Anakin's contentment and relaxation radiates from him in soothing waves; he's loathe to disrupt that.

_ Remember when I said I had a couple of ideas about Padmé's pregnancy and your Force vision? _ He waits to feel Anakin nodding against him and then adds,  _ Bant was one of the ideas. Is it okay if we brief her on the situation? _ He can hear her making her way sedately through their apartment.

_ You think she'll be able to help? _ Anakin asks a little doubtfully.

_ Yes, I do. And I don't think it'll hurt. _

_ Okay then, _ Anakin agrees and Obi-Wan releases a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"Obi-Wan?" Bant's voice comes from behind them. She sounds amused and Obi-Wan resigns himself to some teasing. "Are you there or did your former Padawan manage to eat you whole?"

"Hello, Bant!" Anakin greets cheekily.

"I'm here, Bant," Obi-Wan adds. "Anakin's just...giving me a hug."  _ Can we at least turn around so I can see her? _ he asks and in response, Anakin starts maneuvering them around in a rocking spin. They end up with Anakin's back against the counter and Obi-Wan leaning back against his chest. It's a more comfortable position than before, when Anakin was resting what felt like most of his weight on Obi-Wan's shoulder and upper back.

Anakin digs his chin into his shoulder.  _ Are you implying that I'm heavy? _

"I can see that," Bant says, eyes twinkling.

_ You and I both know that you are far too tall and muscled. _

_ There's no such thing! _ Anakin protests.

_ Yes, there is. There's absolutely no need for you to be that tall. _

_ It's not like I had any control over that. _

_ Yes, I know. You're a child of the Force and the Force apparently wanted you to tower over everyone, _ Obi-Wan recites, remembering a teenage Anakin's smug tone when he realized he was going to be taller than his Master.

Bant smirks, watching them. "You know, Obi-Wan, usually when a Padawan becomes a Knight, they separate from their former Masters." She brings her hands together and then pulls them apart. "Like so. I hate to be critical, but I think you're doing it wrong. In fact, I think you've both been doing it wrong for years, considering that Anakin never quite moved out of these rooms even when he had his own Padawan."

Obi-Wan groans. "Bant, please." He finally takes in the bacta cast around her right leg. "Shouldn't you be in a bacta tank?" he asks.

"Others needed it more. And I do have some healer training so Master Che trusts me to follow her instructions and heal properly without constant supervision, unlike some of the people in this room," Bant says smartly.

"Just because we're a little impatient to get back on our feet...." Anakin mutters.

Bant widens her eyes. "A ' _ little _ impatient'? Is that what you call sneaking out of the Halls of Healing and out of the Temple to go back to the battlefield less than a full day after you're brought out of a tank? Before your bodies have had a chance to recondition? It's a wonder Master Che doesn't keep you restrained to the bed."

"She's actually threatened to do that a couple of times," Obi-Wan admits. "Bant, it is good to see you up and about. I hope your recovery is coming along well? You should sit."

Bant nods in thanks and settles on one of the stools at the counter. She waves a hand negligently. "I'm fine. I'll be back out in no time. Well, in a week or two." She eyes them both contemplatively. "Are  _ you _ okay? There was quite a spike in the Force the other night and it seemed to originate from both of you."

Obi-Wan winces. "Yes, that was us. We were having some rather intense long-overdue discussions."

"I take it it's been resolved satisfactorily?" Bant asks. "Your aura seems mostly to be its usual chaos, Anakin. And the two of you seem more...united, especially in the Force. It's a bit similar to how you were when Anakin was a Padawan but stronger, somehow. Different."

"Really? We had just rebuilt our former bond but it's likely different now because Anakin's much stronger. I hadn't thought it would be obvious to an observer."

"Is that what this hug is for, then? Bond-building? I know we're taught that proximity helps but I don't think this is what Master Yoda had in mind."

Obi-Wan rolls his eyes. "No, this hug is because Anakin finally got a look at my records."

"Oh," Bant says knowingly. Eyes darting over to meet Anakin's, she says, "Melida/Daan?"

Obi-Wan groans. "Bant!"

Anakin growls and tightens his arms around him. "I didn't even get to that yet. How could Qui-Gon have just  _ left _ you behind on Melida/Daan?! And the Council let him!"

"See what you've done?" Obi-Wan says but Bant ignores him in favor of nodding emphatically.

"Yes, I know!" she says to Anakin. "I was so angry with him when he came back without Obi-Wan!"

"Oh, Force, don't you both start getting into this. I made the decision to stay and it wasn't an easy decision to make but Qui-Gon respected it, even though I could see that he was disappointed."

"Why did you do it?" Anakin asks, sounding genuinely curious.

Obi-Wan thinks back to those weeks at war, the desperation of waking up every morning not knowing if he was going to survive that day, the screams and cries of the injured, the feel of a blaster in his young hands which was so different and inelegant and impersonal compared to a lightsaber, the fires and smoke-filled skies of burning cities, and the blood—everywhere, fresh and old, staining their clothes and clotting in their hair, spilling onto the ground. But in the midst of the horror, there had also been the solidarity of standing side by side with his friends, the certainty of knowing he had done the right thing in staying, the conviction in their cause, and finally helping to rebuild the world after the war ended. It had been both like and unlike the war they're in now.

"It was the right thing to do," he finally says. "Master Yoda had ordered us back to the Temple and Master Tahl had been injured so Qui-Gon needed to get her back for medical care. But I...I couldn't  _ not _ help Cerasi and Nield. They were the leaders of the Young and they were trying to stop civil war from destroying their planet and they asked for my help. Master Qui-Gon gave me a choice: go back to the Temple with him or leave the Order and stay on Melida/Daan. I knew that I could never forgive myself if I had just turned my back on them and left. So I stayed."

Anakin digs his chin into his shoulder again. "You were only thirteen. He shouldn't have left you there by yourself." Obi-Wan opens his mouth to protest but before he can, Anakin quickly adds, "What would you have done if it was me?"

Obi-Wan glances over at Bant but she's just giving him a pointed look, one eye ridge raised expectantly. He grasps and squeezes Anakin's hands tightly. "I'd have stayed with you, of course."

"Of course," Anakin repeats faintly. Through the bond, he feels numb from shock.

_ You doubt that I would have? _ Obi-Wan can't help a small pang at that.

Anakin seems to shake himself out of his surprise. "No," he says out loud. Then, "You make it sound like a foregone conclusion but I hadn't ever thought that you would leave the Jedi."

"Well, when you were thirteen, you needed to be trained and I had promised you I'd train you. So yes, had you ever decided to leave the Order, I would have gone with you, to watch over you and finish your training."

Anakin just shakes his head again, radiating disbelief.

"And now?" Bant asks suddenly.

Obi-Wan's startled. "Now? What about now?"

She nods at them. "Will you stay? This new bond between you and Anakin—it doesn't seem like something the Council would approve of. You know their views on attachment."

Obi-Wan purses his lips. He could probably make a good enough case for the Council to allow them to stay, though with restrictions and sanctions but would it be worth it? He thinks back to his conversation with Mace and what he had been asking of Anakin. "Even if I could convince them to do so," he starts and feels Anakin's intense attention, "I'm not sure that we  _ should _ stay."

"What?" Anakin asks, sounding startled. "You don't want to stay? Is this about me leaving again?"

"You leaving?" Bant asks. "Have you been thinking of leaving, Anakin?"

"No, it's not just that," Obi-Wan says in response to Anakin. "Well, it's partly that but it's also other things."

"Obi-Wan brought it up but I wasn't going to do it," Anakin answers Bant at the same time.

Bant shakes her head. "Wait. Obi-Wan, you're thinking you should leave the Order. And Anakin's thinking about leaving, but for a different reason? Is this about the war? Something about it...doesn't feel right. I've wondered myself if the Jedi have been doing the right thing by taking part in this."

Obi-Wan can't see it but he can tell that Anakin's gaping at the Mon Calamari.

Bant tilts her head at Anakin. "We weren't meant to wage war, we were meant to stop them. But this is the Republic's war and so it's become our war. But all the death and destruction, it's against everything the Jedi have valued and honored. And why are we doing this? By order of the Senate. Not to protect innocent lives. And not to find peace with the Separatist planets. And the longer the war drags on, the more the Force is becoming murkier. Darkness is spreading in the universe."

"I think you've put it very eloquently," Obi-Wan says, trying to put his vague misgivings into words as well. "The war has changed us, changed the Jedi. The Order is becoming too politicized. We were meant to serve the Republic, yes, but we were also meant to serve the Force and lately, we've been doing too much of one and not enough of the other. And you're right, the darkness is growing and I think that's affecting us. But no one is doing anything about it. And how can we? The war takes up so much of our time that we barely have time to meditate, let alone try to determine what's happening to the Force."

"Then what are you planning to do?" Bant asks softly.

"For now, nothing. Just try to help bring the war to a swift end. But once it is over," he glances over at Anakin again and thinks again of his commitment to the other man and what the Jedi are asking of him now, what they've asked of him in the past, what they might ask of him in the future. He twists his lips and shakes his head. "I don't know. Some things have gotten clearer recently but many others remain shrouded. If the Jedi continue on as they have....well. I've devoted a lot of years to the Order, Bant, and given up a lot to stay in it but more and more, it's become a different Order than the one we grew up in. And now I have something I'm not willing to give up for it." He can feel Anakin sucking in a breath in surprise and he pats his hands in reassurance. He realizes that he probably should have had this talk with Anakin privately, before speaking of it in front of Bant. But what's done is done.  _ You okay, dear heart? _ "I haven't yet decided what to do. I'd rather not make a hasty decision about this. It's all just musings about future possibilities."

_ Yeah, yeah, I am. Just a bit taken aback. Are you sure about this? _ Anakin's mental voice sounds shaky.  _ I don't want you to leave for me one day and then regret it later. _

_ I wouldn't regret it, _ Obi-Wan promises. "Although I would, of course, continue studying the Force. I may journey to learn more about how others perceive it."

"Others? You mean like the Potentia?" Bant asks with a frown. At the same time, Anakin thinks,  _ We, you mean, my starbird. I go where you go, remember? _

_ And what of your family? _ Obi-Wan asks Anakin, and "Among others," he tells Bant.

_ You're my family, too. Padmé isn't always required on Coruscant and we can raise our child among the stars just as easily as we could on a planet. _

Bant nods slowly. "I see." Then she narrows her eyes. "Now, what was this about Anakin thinking about leaving? Was that because of the war, too?"

"Ah, no. That was because, well, Senator Amidala is pregnant," Obi-Wan says.

Bant's eyes widen. "Anakin!" she chides.

"What?" Anakin asks reflexively. Then: "Wait, what makes you think  _ I _ had anything to do with it? Just because I was thinking of leaving?"

Bant rolls her eyes. "That and because it's Senator Amidala. I didn't just leave the creche yesterday. You've been having an affair with the Senator. It's a little unusual for it to go on for so long but not unheard of. Pregnancy, though? There are very effective forms of birth control, you know."

"Yes, I know. We were using them!" Anakin says defensively. "We know this isn't the best time to be having children! We're not completely irresponsible!"

"Well,  _ she _ isn't," Bant mutters. "So? How is she doing with it?"

"That's the problem," Obi-Wan says. "She's feeling fine and says that her tests have been coming back okay but Anakin keeps having visions of her possibly dying during childbirth. The child is unarguably Force-sensitive and there's not much information on Force-sensitive pregnancies, so we're worried that there are risks in the delivery that we're not aware of."

Bant hums thoughtfully. "I see."

"She's actually going back to Naboo for another check-up in a couple of days and we were wondering if you'd go with her and provide a Force-trained perspective on how the pregnancy is going," Obi-Wan proposes.

Bant's eyes widen in surprise. "Me? But I'm not a full healer. Why not—"

"—Master Che? Well, she's needed here more—"

"—and she hates us," Anakin says wryly.

"She doesn't hate you," Bant says instantly. "She just...dislikes repeat patients, especially when they're as hard to treat as you two. She just wishes you'd look after yourselves a little better."

"In any case," Obi-Wan breaks in before they can get into more of a disagreement about Master Che's feelings towards them (she does appear to be exasperated to see them more than her other patients, he thinks). "Will you do it, Bant? Just as a favor to us, not as any kind of formal mission from the Council, obviously, since you're still on medical leave."

Bant looks between them both carefully and then sighs. "Very well. I'll do it. Might as well take a trip to Naboo. A change of scenery will be nice."

"Thank you so much, Bant!" Anakin exclaims and Obi-Wan feels like he'd be pumping his fist in the air if he hadn't still been hugging him. He squeezes Obi-Wan tightly instead and their bond hums with his pleasure.

Obi-Wan summons one of his empty holopads from the bookcase. Holding that out to Bant, he says, "While you're there, could you take notes for me? See if Padmé will consent to you getting a copy of her test results. And perhaps interview the medic who's been treating her. Write down anything notable related to the pregnancy. We don't know what will end up being significant."

Bant groans. "Really, Obi-Wan? I should have asked if you were writing this up first. You remember that the last time I helped you out with one of your research projects, we ended up blowing up an automixer and had to wear bacta patches for second-degree burns for a week, right?"

He can feel Anakin eyeing him curiously but he just shakes his head. "We were young, then. And you're not going to be actively doing anything this time. Just recording data."

"I'm quite sure you've said this before," she says but sighs and accepts the holopad, pocketing it. "Well, now that I've ascertained that you're both alive and been roped into one of your research projects, I think I'm going to get back to recuperating from my injury. Please do try to keep the noise and the Force disturbances down."

"Did you forget who you were talking to?" Obi-Wan asks with a small smile.

Bant rolls her eyes. "Don't even, Obi-Wan. One of  _ you _ was bad enough but somehow you've managed to find a Padawan and a partner who was just as reckless. And the two of you together have some kind of synergistic effect that just spells trouble for everyone in the vicinity, friend or foe."

"We're not that bad!" Obi-Wan protests while Anakin cackles.  _ Stop that, you're not helping, _ he chides.

_ It's true though! _

Bant eyes them knowingly but says only "So, I'll see you in two or three days?" to Anakin.

"Yeah. I'll comm you when we set an itinerary."

Bant bows her head slightly and takes her leave of them.

"Want some lunch?" Anakin asks cheerfully.

"Are you ready to let go so we can get food and eat?"

"Nope. Already thought of a way around that," Anakin says cheekily. "I'm going to send Artoo to the commissary to pick up trays for us and bring them back." At his name Artoo wakes and lets out a series of inquisitive beeps. Anakin laughs. "Yeah, we're all done with the organic emotional output."

Artoo rolls over and flashes some lights at them, chirping a different series of beeps.

"He's wondering why we're attached to each other like this," Anakin explains.

"It's because Anakin's like those mishalopes on Firrerre," Obi-Wan tells Artoo. The droid's dome spins for a second and then he beeps something that makes Anakin bark out a laugh. "What?"

"He asked if that makes you a tree, then," Anakin says, radiating amusement.

Obi-Wan huffs and rolls his eyes. "You and your droid have a shockingly similar sense of humor."

"That's why we're friends." Artoo beeps something that sounds like agreement. "Hey, buddy, can you go get us some lunch? Obi-Wan and I want to stay in today."

Artoo flashes his lights again and spins around. He lets out a series of short high-pitched beeps as he's rolling out the door and Obi-Wan swears the droid is laughing at them.

 

* * *

 

"Absolutely not," Obi-Wan declares firmly, determinedly not letting his fond amusement at the situation seep into the bond.

Anakin must still feel it somehow, because he just presses a smile against the skin of his shoulder. "Why not? You did it perfectly with the tea earlier."

"I feel that I must draw some kind of line, however thin and permeable it may be. Or else you'd run even more over me."

"Mm, you're such a  _ disciplinarian. _ " Anakin imbues the word with so much innuendo that Obi-Wan flushes.

"Are you going to eat or what?" Obi-Wan asks, a little high-pitched.

Anakin chuckles in his ear, sending shivers down his spine. "Very well," he concedes and unwraps his right arm from around Obi-Wan's middle. The two of them had managed to shuffle over to the sofa with Anakin still stubbornly wrapped around Obi-Wan by the time Artoo had returned with two trays of food. Then Anakin had pulled him down onto his lap and hooked his chin over his shoulder and if he's being completely honest, Obi-Wan's starting to get accustomed to this hugging activity and is a bit reluctant to put an end to it just yet. Thus their current predicament.

Obi-Wan doesn't say it out loud but he misses having both of Anakin's arms around him.

 

* * *

 

"You should go," Obi-Wan says. "You've been needing to go for awhile now."

"I'm fine," Anakin says stubbornly.

"Really. So if I start thinking about that mission on Firrerre, with all those waterfalls..." Obi-Wan says, trailing off as he brings up memories of said mission to the surface of his thoughts.

Anakin huffs but lets go of him to hurry into their 'fresher.

Obi-Wan chuckles.

"You're evil!" Anakin calls out, muffled.

Obi-Wan shrugs, even though he knows Anakin can't see it, and goes to stand near the door. As soon as it slides open and Anakin steps out, arms already extended to return to their hug, Obi-Wan darts inside. He hits the button to shut the door on Anakin's surprised look. "I've had to relieve myself since before we had eaten!" he calls out through the door. "I was just waiting you out!"

Anakin squawks indignantly and Obi-Wan finds himself laughing, feeling lighter in his heart than he has in a long time.

When he exits, it's to Anakin standing with his hands on his hips, one brow raised expectantly. Obi-Wan smiles at him, not bothering to hide his amusement at his antics. "Let's go to bed. You can continue your hug there."

A gleam lights up Anakin's eyes. "Is that  _ all _ you want to do there?"

"That depends entirely on you. You're the one who wanted to give me an 'epic hug'," Obi-Wan says, fingers curving in the air to mime quotes.

"Well, I suppose we can define what's involved in an epic hug...." Anakin says lowly.

Obi-Wan smirks. "Now you're speaking like a negotiator."

 

* * *

 

They're woken up the next morning by beeping from both of their comlinks. Anakin groans and buries his head under his pillow but Obi-Wan apparently manages to grab his and activate it. Mace's voice intones, "Obi-Wan, you and Anakin have been asked to attend a meeting between Chancellor Palpatine and a group of Senators. I'll transmit the details to you shortly."

"It must be that meeting that Padmé had told us about," Obi-Wan says, sounding far too awake and alert. Anakin just grunts in response. "Do you want me to check your messages?" Anakin grunts again and seconds later, the same message from Mace plays, this time addressed to Anakin.

Then, after a beep, the Chancellor's voice comes on and he says: "Anakin, my boy, a group of Senators have asked to meet with me this morning about a matter of some importance. I'm a bit concerned about their motives and I would feel more comfortable if you could join us and provide me with your enlightened perspective on the situation. I do hope that you'll be able to attend. You are the only one I can trust to see things with an unbiased view."

Anakin frowns, a little unsettled. The Chancellor's voice sounds the same and even the way he speaks sounds the same but for some reason, it feels like there's something  _ off _ about it.

"Is he referring to Padmé’s group?" Obi-Wan asks and Anakin can hear the consternation in his voice. "He can't possibly think that she and her colleagues have any ulterior motive to their proposal. She's always been one of the Chancellor's biggest supporters. And a champion for the Republic ideals."

Anakin sets aside his questions about the Chancellor's manner of speaking. Surely when he sees him in person later, he'll be able to get a better sense of what's happening. But this possible strife between the Chancellor and Padmé is concerning too. What are they doing? He trusts them both but when it comes to politics, he doesn't always understand why they do what they do.

"I'm sure he's not. Maybe it's someone else in her group."

"Bail? Mon Mothma?" Obi-Wan asks, sounding just as incredulous. "They're all conscientious Senators. They're some of the ones that I actually think have genuinely good intentions of helping people."

Anakin shrugs his shoulders against the bed. He doesn't know them as well but from what he does know, he'd agree. "I guess we'll just have to go to this meeting and see what's going on." He regretfully pulls his pillow off of his head and sits up. He would have loved, more than anything, to have stayed in bed for a bit longer with Obi-Wan. But—he rubs the sleep from his eyes and focuses on Obi-Wan, who's sitting up straight with a light in his eyes and his mind clearly trying to process everything already and determine what the possible outcomes are. He'd be ready to lead a metaphorical charge into the Senate building if his soft sleep robes aren't sliding off one shoulder and open in a large vee down his chest and his hair isn't still mussed by sleep. Anakin can't help himself—he leans over and cups the back of his head gently and kisses him.

"Mrgh, morning breath," Obi-Wan protests against his lips but he kisses back anyway and clasps Anakin's bare shoulder with one hand.

Anakin pulls back just enough to smile and murmur, "Good morning, starbird." He tilts his forehead down against Obi-Wan's and meets his gray-blue eyes which are still alight but with a softer glow now.

"Good morning, my heart," Obi-Wan says and Anakin could listen to that Coruscanti-accented voice all day.

He sighs regretfully. "We should probably head over soon."

"Quite right. It won't do to be late," Obi-Wan agrees but he doesn't make a move to leave the bed either. They stare at each other and their bond hums in the background of their minds. Finally, Obi-Wan chuckles and pushes the bedsheets off of his lap. "Okay, okay. We really do have to go. Do you want to shower first while I drink my morning tea?"

"Sure," Anakin says easily. "Make me a cup?"

"Of course."

 

* * *

 

It turns out that the meeting is between the Chancellor and Padmé’s cohort—the Delegation of 2000—after all. If they really do have two thousand systems in their group, that's a pretty sizable amount. Certainly large enough to warrant a private audience for their proposal. When he and Anakin arrive at the Chancellor's office, the representatives of the delegation—Padmé, Bail, and Mon Mothma—are still waiting in the anteroom.

Almost as if the Chancellor had just been waiting for their arrival, the double doors to his office swing open as soon as Obi-Wan and Anakin greet his aides.

"Ah, Senators. Welcome!" Palpatine greets jovially. "And Anakin! I'm glad you could make it on such short notice." Then he pauses, looking flummoxed for a fraction of a second. "And Master Kenobi. So good of you to join us. Did the Jedi send you? I'm sure you need not waste your precious time with Senatorial matters such as this." His words, as usual, drip with an overly sweet quality that makes Obi-Wan's hackles rise. He dislikes spending time around politicians and Palpatine is not an exception to that, no matter how much he may have done for the Republic during the war and how much of a friend he is to Anakin.

Obi-Wan exchanges a look with Anakin, whose brows are furrowed.

"We requested the presence of Master Kenobi and Knight Skywalker," Padmé speaks up, voice firm. "And if you have no objections, we would like for both of them to stay for the meeting. We feel that the petition we're here to present to you would bring about a significant shift in the Republic and as the Jedi are the peacekeepers of the Republic, it's something that they should be aware of."

"Oh," Palpatine says, face blank. "Well, of course it's perfectly fine for them to join us. Come in, come in, all of you."

They file into the office and Obi-Wan's taken aback at how dim it feels. It's lit well enough from the sunlight coming in through the windows and the wall sconces but the room lacks brightness and warmth somehow. Anakin looks over at him curiously, sensing his idle thoughts. Obi-Wan shakes his head minutely at him—now isn't the time to wax philosophical about politicians and their cold and calculating ways. He takes up a spot to the side, equally spaced between the Chancellor's desk and the seats the Senators have taken. When Anakin nearly passes him, he touches him on the elbow.  _ What are you doing? _

Anakin stops.  _ He usually asks me to stand by his desk. _

_ Usually? He requests your presence at these types of meetings often? _

_ Not really, I'm hardly ever on planet for them. But when I am, he prefers that I stand closer to him. He says that he feels better having someone he trusts near him. _

Obi-Wan's lips tighten.

_ What's wrong? _

"Is something the matter, sir Jedi?" the Chancellor's voice echoes.

"No, nothing at all, Chancellor. Please proceed," Obi-Wan answers.  _ In a moment. First, though, we're a neutral party in this discussion, so we should take a neutral stance. Here, where we can observe and be seen but not be considered a fully active participant. We can interject if we feel that the situation is getting out of hand, without inadvertently declaring loyalty for either side. This is especially important for meetings such as this, where the two parties are really members of the same party and are allies and colleagues rather than hostiles. You did that with the negotiation on Mon Cala, did you not? _

_ I don't think I fully considered the ramifications of this bond, if I'm now going to be lectured in my head as well as out loud, _ Anakin grumbles, but his thought is laced with fond amusement. He shifts to stand next to Obi-Wan and they assume the traditional serene expressions of the Jedi as they face the room.  _ But yes, I suppose that we did. Padmé picked out where we would sit and directed me to it. I didn't ask why, but she must have been thinking along the same lines. _

_ I wouldn't be surprised. She is a seasoned negotiator. _ Obi-Wan keeps half of his attention on the group of Senators—Mon Mothma is explaining the formation of the Delegation and what their collective goal is while the Chancellor appears to listen keenly, hands clasped on top of his desk—and the rest on Anakin.  _ I don't mean to lecture. _

_ I know. It's okay. I don't mind. I used to. When I was a padawan, it frustrated me to no end. _

_ Yes, I did get that impression. _

_ But later, I realized that you do that with everyone and that it wasn't about me or my shortcomings. You're just a natural teacher. So it's okay. I like it now. It's kind of comforting, like a routine that'll never change. Something I can always count on. No matter how bad a situation is, you'll be there with a lecture while you simultaneously think of a way to get us out of it. _

Obi-Wan feels his cheeks heat up slightly and is thankful that no one is watching them.

"So as you can see, Chancellor," Padmé’s saying, "there is significant support for the transitioning of power back to the Senate from the office of the Chancellor now that the war is near its end."

Obi-Wan focuses his attention on the Chancellor, whose expression is placidly thoughtful but whose eyes are a shade too sharp.

"Well, I certainly do appreciate the lengths you've gone to to uphold the democratic spirit of the Republic, Senators, and I will keep the petition in mind. However, the war isn't quite over yet. General Grievous remains at large and we have yet to hear what's happened with the Confederate Systems. So I fear that it is still too early to shift the emergency powers back. We would risk destabilizing the Republic and leaving ourselves vulnerable to attack."

The words sound reasonable and yet as usual there's something  _ off _ about the Chancellor's response, like there's an underlying edge that's just to the left of his apparent meaning. Close but not entirely congruent. It's one of the reasons why Obi-Wan has never fully trusted the man but he's not the only politician who speaks like this; it seems to be a common characteristic in those who hold public offices. Obi-Wan glances over at Anakin but he just lifts one shoulder in a shrug, seemingly unconcerned. Nothing glaringly out of character, then.

"Of course, Chancellor," Bail responds smoothly but Obi-Wan can sense some disquiet in him. "We understand that the Republic's safety must be prioritized. We only wished to present the petition to you in advance so that preparations can begin to be made for the transition."

The Chancellor nods. "Perfectly reasonable. Now, if that's all, I must ask you to excuse me as I have other matters to attend to."

"Of course. Thank you for your time," Mon Mothma murmurs as the group of them stand and make their way to the door.

Padme shoots him and Anakin a questioning look but before the two of them can join the group, the Chancellor says, "Anakin, a moment please, if you don't mind."

"Sure, Chancellor," Anakin says.

"You need not stay, Master Kenobi. I wouldn't want to keep you from your other obligations."

"Not to worry," Obi-Wan says, keeping his voice mild. "My morning's been cleared for this meeting." Something tells him he needs to be here, that what's going to happen in the next couple of minutes will be important. It's been a long time since he's gotten any clear sense that a divergence in future paths is imminent.

The Chancellor eyes him speculatively. "As you wish," he finally says. "So, Anakin, tell me. What did you think of the meeting? I'll admit I'm a bit disconcerted. I didn't expect Senator Amidala to be conspiring with others to weaken the Republic."

What? Obi-Wan's taken aback. Conspiring? Weaken?

"I'm sorry?" Anakin asks, looking equally nonplussed. "What do you mean? Senator Amidala has always been one of your biggest supporters."

"Exactly. But in doing this, she and her colleagues are placing the Republic at great risk of fragmentation. Perhaps she isn't doing it intentionally—I can't imagine that she would consciously want anything bad to happen to the Republic. Perhaps she's just being misled."

"If done correctly and peacefully, a transition of power doesn't destabilize a system," Obi-Wan points out. He doesn't know why the Chancellor is so worried about this—there have been multiple instances of government change being successfully completed without bloodshed. The Chancellor himself had taken his office without weakening the Republic thirteen years ago.

"Yes, and I'm certain that Senator Amidala and the others would do everything they can to ensure a smooth transition," Anakin adds quickly.

"I'm surprised that you're so eager to return to the old system. We've had so many discussions about how that system was inefficient and how there was too much bureaucracy preventing the Jedi from helping people who need it, such as slaves," Palpatine says, watching Anakin intently. "As it is, even when the power was more consolidated, it's taken far longer than it should to bring this war to an end. The Senate is simply becoming a burdensome, ineffectual body. Would it not be setting the Republic back by returning to that system? We should be thinking instead of a new system, one in which decisions can be made more quickly, with only the highest level of leadership involved, those who best understand the potential consequences of making a decision. Don't you think so, Anakin?"

"I—I don't—" Anakin's eyes flicker over to Obi-Wan's quickly, and then back to the Chancellor's. He's starting to look a little cornered and his thoughts are circling wildly in his head, spilling over into their bond—agreement with the Chancellor's sentiment, frustration with the government's inaction, fear over losing Obi-Wan's regard because of his beliefs, and anger at the thought that Obi-Wan might reprimand him for his thoughts. Obi-Wan nearly flinches at the unexpected emotional onslaught. He doesn't share Anakin's opinions about the Republic but he's dismayed that Anakin could think he would turn from him because of that. And worried about the intensity of his anger at something that hasn't even happened yet and might not (will not) come to pass.

Obi-Wan reaches out and places his hand lightly at the small of Anakin's tense back, pushing  _ lovepeacecalmacceptance _ at him through their bond. Almost instantly, the other man relaxes. "It sounds to me, Chancellor, like you're suggesting the Republic move away from a democracy and towards an autocracy," he says evenly.

Palpatine's hands clench each other tightly enough that Obi-Wan can see the knuckles whiten but his face remains bland. "Not at all, Master Jedi. I value democracy. I just believe that too large of a system is unwieldy. The highest levels of leadership should still be elected by the people, of course, and represent the people's needs."

"Of course," Obi-Wan agrees absently, looking between the Chancellor's hands and his eyes. Something about what he's said or done has upset the other man.

Palpatine follows his line of sight and his lips thin slightly before his hands relax and he looks back up at them with a mildly cheerful look. He stands and walks around his desk, coming over to clasp Anakin's shoulder. "Well, that meeting wasn't the only reason I had asked you to come, Anakin. I have some news for you. And a request of a somewhat personal nature."

Obi-Wan frowns while Anakin looks at the Chancellor questioningly. He keeps his hand on Anakin's back, unwilling for some reason to let go while Palpatine is touching him.

"Yesterday afternoon," Palpatine starts with a heavy sigh, "the Senate voted for me to directly oversee the operations of the Jedi Order."

"What?" Anakin asks, sounding shocked. Obi-Wan is too stunned to even react. The Chancellor now has oversight of the Jedi? He feels dread curl in his stomach. Why hadn't Mace warned them? He feels off kilter at the news, like the change in authority is already having a ripple effect in the universe.

"Yes. It was a shock to me as well," Palpatine says in a conciliatory tone, like he's sorry to be breaking this news to them. "However, there is a positive aspect to this development. I've been able to request that the High Council admit you as a member. I know that you've chafed at their censure in the past."

"I—what?" Anakin's gaze darts to Obi-Wan, eyes wide and a little panicked.  _ I didn't _ — _ I mean, I have _ — _ you know I don't agree with _ — _ but I didn't - _

_ Anakin, _ Obi-Wan interrupts.  _ Calm down. Breathe. I know. _

He nods jerkily.  _ I've...vented my frustrations to him, when I was upset. And of course, I've wanted to be on the Council - who hasn't - but I never asked him to do anything. _

_ I know. _ Obi-Wan soothes. He can feel Anakin's panic start to recede. "Chancellor, while it is admirable that you've spoken on behalf of Anakin, I'm afraid that the final decision lies with the Council as do all internal matters regardless of whose authority the Order acts under."

Palpatine arches a brow at him. "Master Kenobi, are you not a member of that Council?"

Obi-Wan refrains from gritting his teeth. "I am. What are you suggesting?"

"Nothing at all. I'm merely observing that you've been Anakin's teacher and mentor for all these years and yet you're part of the body that's holding him back from achieving his full potential. It must be a difficult position to be in."

Anakin's looking between the two of them as they trade thinly-veiled repartees and this is why Obi-Wan dislikes politicians. They see this kind of discourse as a sport, try to twist everything to their own agenda for the sake of argument. But what is Palpatine's agenda here? Obi-Wan can feel a headache forming at the base of his neck. "On the contrary, Chancellor, Anakin has progressed at an average pace. Given his late start, he's actually advanced very rapidly and has been well on track. He's not been held back."

Palpatine frowns. "I'm afraid I have to disagree."

Obi-Wan can feel his headache worsen. Force, how long is this discussion going to continue?

"Regardless. I do hope that the Council will respect my wishes and accept you as a full member, Anakin. I've asked that you sit in as my representative."

"Pardon?" Obi-Wan asks over the sudden thundering in his ears. Anakin shifts slightly and then his fingers rub gently over Obi-Wan's hand, hiding the movement in the voluminous sleeves of their robes.

"What do you mean, Chancellor?" Anakin asks.

"Simply that I would feel more confident in the Order's actions if I knew that someone on the Council was representing my—and the Senate's—interests. and would be honest and transparent when reporting to me."

"No," Obi-Wan says. His own voice sounds distant to him. He can barely hear it over the sound of the Force screaming at him. He feels chilled to the bone, suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Palpatine asks, and his voice takes on an interested, sharp edge. "Surely you're not disagreeing with allowing your own former Padawan onto the High Council?"

Obi-Wan shakes his head sharply and narrows his eyes at the Chancellor. Instead of answering his question, he says, "You're asking him to divide his loyalties. I won't allow him to be treated like a pawn in a game of dejarik. I believe we've taken up enough of your time, Chancellor. Have a good day." He bows his head stiffly and twists his hand to close his fingers around Anakin's, giving them a slight tug. He can feel Anakin's confusion but to his relief, Anakin follows his lead. He bows and murmurs a farewell to the Chancellor as well and walks side by side with Obi-Wan towards the door.

Obi-Wan feels like the Chancellor's gaze is boring into his back although he doesn't turn to look. Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Anakin glancing at him askance.

_ What's going on, Obi-Wan? _

_ We're leaving. _ And he means more than just this meeting.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who's interested in chatting more in a meta-y way, feel free to leave me a comment on the [fic masterpost](http://todriftornot.livejournal.com/5397.html) on my LJ. I generally find LJ to be a more friendly format for long conversations.


	11. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short interlude from Palpatine's perspective.

Palpatine watches the two Jedi leave his office, fists clenched and rage barely leashed. Oh, what he wouldn't give to be able to strike Kenobi down with all the power surging through his veins. But no. If he attacks Kenobi now, then he would lose Skywalker for certain. The thought makes his lips curl in disgust.

He's spent decades planning and being patient and making one small strategic move after another.

Victory is finally near. He can almost taste it. He just needs to maintain his focus and bide his time a little longer.

The boy is the final piece. And he had been teetering on the edge after Dooku. Palpatine had even thought that might have been it; might have been the final push Skywalker needed.

But then.

Then he had  _ refused _ to leave Kenobi behind on the crashing ship. After everything, he had still been too attached to his old Master to let go.

Palpatine should have realized then that he still had more work ahead of him but he'd felt confident in his grasp of Skywalker's psyche, thought he knew exactly what strings to pull to make Skywalker react the way he wanted him to, thought he could easily overcome that little setback.

He'd tried to get Skywalker to turn from Kenobi in a fit of jealous rage when they returned to Coruscant and it should have worked. Everything he'd gleaned from the boy's thoughts indicated that he was a very possessive person. The thought of Amidala cheating on him with his former Master should have made him blind with anger and jealousy.

But somehow Kenobi's managed to sink his claws back into the boy and anchor him. How did he do that? Could it be that Kenobi suspected him and had a contingency in place to reinforce his hold on Skywalker's mind? No, that can't be it. The Jedi are all incompetent fools, every single one of them. He's had enough interactions with them to know that their adherence to their  _ Code _ —he sneers—made them weak. Kenobi is no different from the rest.

And yet he's done something that's changed Skywalker's shields, making his mind nearly as opaque to Palpatine as it had been at the beginning, before he had learned the pattern and pinpointed the weak spots. Or, no—the weak spots had still been there but there was a new layer of shielding under them that prevented him from being able to skim Skywalker's surface thoughts. He'd had to rely on second-rate physical cues and then Kenobi had the gall to parry him!

Palpatine forces himself to take deep breaths and rein in his anger more. He's miscalculated—he can admit that. He should not have allowed Kenobi to stay in the room. He had thought that he could play the two against each other, sow some doubt in Skywalker's mind about his former Master's loyalty but he'd underestimated Kenobi's skills of manipulation.

Well, there will be no more of that.

He draws out his private communicator and makes a call.

"Yes, Lord Sidious?" a mechanical voice answers promptly.

"General Grievous. How are the preparations coming along?"

"They are on schedule, my lord. They will be completed in a week."

"You are out of time, General. I'm sending Kenobi to you now. I trust that you'll be able to take care of him."

It's an expectation, not a question. He will not tolerate any more failures.

There's a pause but Grievous knows better than to naysay him. "Yes, my lord. He will be dealt with."

"Excellent," Palpatine says with a smile and terminates the call.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dundundun!
> 
> I'm sure no one's surprised by that turn of events, huh?
> 
> A couple of readers have asked about Obi-Wan's headaches so for anyone else who's been wondering....there were some hints in here about them. ;)


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Decisions are made, travel plans are made, and Anakin and Padme get some surprising news about the bab(ies).

_ Obi-Wan? What's wrong? What do you mean, we're leaving? _

_ Not here, _ is all Obi-Wan responds with. Anakin subsides and follows Obi-Wan into the lift but he's surprised when Obi-Wan selects the floor where Padmé’s office is located rather than the exit level. So they're not returning to the Temple just yet.

When they get there, Padmé is sitting at her desk, typing up what are likely notes from the meeting. "Anakin, Obi-Wan," she greets them with a smile, pausing in her typing, "I'm so glad both of you were able to attend the meeting this morning. Bail and Mon Mothma send their regards as well. If only we could have gotten a more concrete answer from the Chancellor."

"Yes. I thought the proposal itself was well put-together," Obi-Wan says. Then, out of nowhere, he asks, "Are you all set for returning to Naboo for that check-up?"

Padmé looks surprised. "Yes, I am. I was planning on leaving tomorrow morning, if that works for you, Anakin?"

Anakin shrugs. "Sure."

Obi-Wan shakes his head though and runs a hand through his hair.

"What's wrong?" Padmé asks with a frown.

"He's about to make one of those rash decisions he's always reprimanding me for," Anakin says with a smirk.

Obi-Wan rolls his eyes at him but then focuses on Padmé. "Can you move up your timeline and leave tonight?"

Padmé furrows her brows. "I suppose so. But why? What's going on?"

Obi-Wan sighs heavily. "There are things at play that I don't like," he says. "The Council and the Chancellor both are...asking things of Anakin that they shouldn't and I'd like for him to be off planet and out of their reach sooner rather than later."

And oh, is that what's been distressing Obi-Wan? He'd been upset when he had heard that the Council wanted him to spy on the Chancellor, sure, but once he had calmed down, he hadn't been surprised. The Council has often asked him to do things without taking into consideration his personal opinions on the matter. The Chancellor's request, though...that, he is surprised about. But perhaps Palpatine just doesn't fully understand the Jedi, to think that he could ask this of them and that they would comply. Anakin feels pretty confident that the Council won't grant the Chancellor's request and it's just as well, really. He doesn't particularly relish giving the Council yet another reason to distrust him.

"Anakin, I know I had said that I didn't want to rush into making a decision about leaving but with the way the political climate is changing, I feel like it's best if we—" Obi-Wan stops suddenly. "No, what am I doing?" He narrows his eyes at the ceiling.  _ The same thing you're upset with the Council and the Chancellor over, _ Anakin can hear him chiding himself. Anakin opens his mouth to protest but before he can say anything, Obi-Wan looks over at him. "I'm sorry, Anakin. What is it that  _ you _ want to do?"

He's taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"What do you want to do? It's occurred to me that for most of your life, if not for all of it, your course was defined and dictated by others. You were born into slavery and then you were taken from that life and brought to the Order. And then I almost did it again, whisked you off down another path without consulting you on what you wanted. But that's not fair to you. So. Anakin. What do  _ you _ want? This choice should be as much yours as it is mine. If not more."

"I..." Anakin starts and then trails off helplessly. He doesn't know what he wants. Not about this particular situation, anyway. He wants to be with Obi-Wan and he wants Padmé to live and he wants their children to grow up happy. He's finally getting a family which he hasn't had since he left his mother and the only thing he's sure of is that the last thing he wants is to lose it. He would do anything to keep it. But does that mean staying here or leaving?

He looks between Padmé and Obi-Wan, one a little puzzled about the situation and the other one patient, both beloved to him and waiting on his decision. He licks his lips. "Do you—" he starts, not even sure what he wants to ask them. Part of him wants them to just tell him what to do. But part of him, now that he's been given a choice, doesn't want to give up that ability to choose.

Obi-Wan must be able to sense his turmoil, because he just smiles ruefully. "I'm afraid I haven't been very circumspect about my thoughts. You already know what I would advise," he says and it's true. Obi-Wan's gut is still screaming at him to leave  _ nownownow _ so strongly that it's reverberating through the bond and making Anakin nauseous with tension and anxiety. How Obi-Wan is keeping that instinct in check, Anakin doesn't know. "But whatever you decide, I'll respect and follow." And he can tell that that's true, even with all of Obi-Wan's misgivings.

"I'm not quite sure what this is about but we made a commitment to each other and I'll stand by you whatever you choose, Ani," Padmé says with a soft smile. He recalls their conversation from the other night on the balcony - her standing with the bright fluorescent lights of the city shining behind her like a halo, talking wistfully about going back to Naboo to ready the room for their child. "My job is here," she had said, "but I've always wanted to raise my children where I had been raised and where my parents are."

In the end, Anakin makes his choice the only way he can: he chooses Obi-Wan and Padmé. He chooses his family.

"Okay, let's go," he says and echoes his conviction through the bond for Obi-Wan's benefit.

Obi-Wan breathes out, visibly relieved. "Tonight?"

"Yeah, we can leave tonight, though I don't know why you think leaving tonight instead of tomorrow would make a difference."

"I would just rather not put this off. So you and Padmé will leave tonight, with Bant. Padmé, I hope that's okay with you? I've asked one of my friends, Master Bant Eerin, to accompany you both. She's been trained in Force healing and I thought she might be able to provide some assistance with the pregnancy." Padmé nods and Obi-Wan continues. "I'll follow in a couple of days. I need to wrap things up here and inform the Council of our decision."

Anakin hesitates. "Are you sure?" He doesn't like this idea of being separated from Obi-Wan, not now that they're about to make such a big change in their lives.

"Yes. I'll be fine. And Padmé has to get back to Naboo in time for her appointment so with the travel time, you really can't afford to wait. Even if there wasn't a risk that you'd get pulled into more of this political maneuvering the Chancellor and the Council are doing."

"But what if  _ you _ get pulled into their political maneuvering?"

Obi-Wan shakes his head. "The Chancellor's never had much of an interest in me. And that limits the amount of use I would be to the Council in  _ their _ agenda. There's nothing they could ask of me that another Jedi couldn't do just as well."

"Alright," Anakin agrees reluctantly.

"I'll ask Captain Typho to prepare my ship for an early evening departure while Motee and I pack up what I need from my apartment. We'll rendezvous at the spaceport at seventeen hundred hours?" Padmé suggests. She taps a few last commands into her terminal and then the viewscreen shuts off. She stands, shrugging into her voluminous senatorial robes.

"Okay," Anakin says, reaching out to link his hands with hers and brush his lips against hers. "Hello, beautiful," he murmurs. "I haven't been able to properly greet you today."

She chuckles softly. "Hello to you too, Ani."

He lets go of her when they walk out of her office, though he can't help hovering near her the whole time they make their way to the speeder bay. He and Obi-Wan make sure she's safely on her way to the nearby Senate Apartments before collecting their own speeder and returning to the Temple.

 

* * *

 

"Sorry about the last minute change in plans, Bant," Anakin says, piloting the speeder through early evening Coruscant traffic. "I know we had said that we would leave tomorrow or the day after."

Bant scoffs from the back seat. "You and Obi-Wan changing a plan at the last minute on an impulse? Anakin, it's like you think I haven't spent more than five minutes with you two." Anakin can't help a grin at that. "It's fine. I was just looking into pregnancies where one of the parents is a known Force-sensitive being."

"Obi-Wan already looked through everything in the Archives."

"There's still a few old tomes I haven't gone through yet," Obi-Wan murmurs from the passenger seat next to him.

"You won't find this information there. It's accessible to those with healer privileges only."

"Medical records in the Halls of Healing," Obi-Wan says with a note of realization in his voice. "Of course. Why didn't I think of that?"

"What are you talking about?"

"If there were any Jedi who have gotten pregnant, they would have been cared for by the Temple healers, so we  _ would _ have information about Force-related pregnancies, after all. But that kind of information is encrypted. Only the healers have access to it, for confidentiality purposes. Were you able to get into those records, Bant?"

"Not the individual charts—those are confidential—but I ran some aggregate reports. Most of the data we have are from the Corp members, not active Jedi."

Obi-Wan nods, though Anakin isn't quite following the conversation. But the spaceport is coming up so he focuses instead on navigating to a passenger drop-off zone and makes a mental note to ask Obi-Wan to clarify later. "That does make sense," he hears Obi-Wan say while he speeds up to dive into an opening between two air taxis. He makes for where another speeder is just taking off from a landing pad, ignoring the angry cursing from the pilot he's cut off.

Bant passes a holopad over the seat to Obi-Wan. "Here are my findings. I'll brief Anakin and the Senator on the flight."

Anakin puts the speeder in park and he and Bant disembark. He grabs his pack from the backseat and slings it over his shoulder. Then he looks to Obi-Wan who's sliding over to the driver's seat. "You'll come join us soon?" he can't help asking, feeling a spike of anxiety.

Obi-Wan smiles at him and a wave of reassurance comes through over the bond. "Yes. I'll leave here in a couple of days. No more than two or three, I expect. You and Padmé stay on Naboo after her appointment. We'll figure out what to do next when I get there."

Anakin nods. He darts his gaze over to Bant but while she's surveying the spaceport, ostensibly ignoring him and Obi-Wan, they're still in too public of an area for him to say his farewells to Obi-Wan the way he really wants to. He holds back a sigh of frustration. Instead, he holds his left hand over his belt and subtly unclips his lightsaber and then, nestling the hilt in his palm, he holds out his hand to Obi-Wan with the sleeve of his robe draped over all but the very tips of his fingers. Neither of them have told Bant of their plans to leave the Order yet, and if she sees him turning over his saber, she'll know for sure. Not to mention what the public would say if civilians saw him doing that. Lightsabers have become well-known to be associated with Jedi and only Jedi.

Obi-Wan clasps his hand. "May the Force be with you, Anakin," he says as Anakin releases the lightsaber into his grip. It feels momentous, this giving up of his lightsaber. He's been without one before, when he's lost it or damaged it on missions, but this feels  _ final _ . Permanent. He hopes that this isn't a decision he will regret.

Through their bond, Obi-wan sends a wave of  _ love _ that takes Anakin's breath away.  _ We'll be okay, Anakin. It's just a step in a new direction. And we're taking it together. _

Anakin nods and bows his head. "And with you, Obi-Wan," he finally says out loud, voice steady. He floods their bond with his affection for the other man and sees Obi-Wan shiver out of the corner of his eye.

"Always have to go that extra klick, don't you?" Obi-Wan says with a smile. "Bant, may the Force be with you as well."

Bant turns back to them both at this and bows her head at Obi-Wan. "And with you, Obi-Wan. Take care of yourself. Anakin, we should go. I spotted the Senator's vessel and her retinue is nearly done with their loading."

"Okay," Anakin agrees and suddenly he can't wait to see Padmé again. He realizes that he won't have to hide his relationship with her in front of Bant and that makes him a little more eager to head out.

They watch Obi-Wan lift off and rejoin the air traffic and then he and Bant make their way through the port - slowly, in deference to her still healing leg. They both put their hoods up for privacy but the public have become so accustomed to seeing Jedi hurrying to and fro in the spaceport now that he feels confident that no one will remark on their presence or stop them with questions.

 

* * *

 

They board the Naboo star skiff, check in with Captain Typho, and then go to find Padmé in the ship's sitting area.

"Oh, my," Bant says, coming to a sudden stop just before entering the room. Anakin barely stops in time to prevent himself from colliding into her.

Padmé and Motee halt their conversation to look up at her in surprise. "What is it?" Padmé asks at the same time Anakin asks, "What?" with a spike of alarm.

"I apologize, my lady," Bant says with a small bow to Padmé. "I was just taken aback at something." With a nod towards Padmé’s pregnant belly and then Motee, she asks, "May I speak freely?"

"Yes, of course, Master Jedi. Motee is fully aware of the situation. Everyone on board this ship is."

Straightening back up, Bant smiles. "Just Bant, please. A friend of Obi-Wan's is a friend of mine."

Padmé dips her head in response. "Then please call me Padmé."

"May I?" Bant asks, gesturing at Padmé’s belly. At Padmé’s assenting nod, she takes a couple of steps forward. Anakin goes to follow, practically vibrating with nerves, but Bant holds a hand up. "Anakin, unless you can tighten your shields further, can you stay here? Or, actually, a few steps back would be better."

Anakin furrows his brow. "What? Why?"

"You're very strong in the Force, as you know. Your presence makes it difficult to get a clear reading of nearby Force signatures. The fact that I could sense the Force in your child at all is remarkable, given his or her age and your nearness. So, it would be easier if you would wait here while I do a quick diagnostic to see if I can sense anything else."

"Alright, fine. Go ahead, then," Anakin says with a wave of his hand. He'd rather be right there, next to Padmé, but if this is the only way to do it...he resolves to work more on his shielding in the future.

Bant takes the seat next to Padmé that Motee cedes to her, places one hand gently on her rounded belly, and closes her eyes. Anakin can feel her reaching out into the Force but he can't tell what it is that she's doing. A few seconds later, her eyes snap open and then narrow in thought. "Huh!" she says.

"'Huh'? 'Huh' what?!" Anakin demands impatiently. Padmé shakes her head at him, likely for not being able to tolerate any suspense.

Bant looks at him, eyes gleaming in amusement. "Obi-Wan was right. Your children are quite strong in the Force."

Anakin nods. He already knows—"Wait, what?! Child _ ren _ ?! As in, more than one?"

Bant chuckles. "That's exactly what it means. Specifically, two. I can't determine the sex of the children but there's two signatures. They're twined very closely together so you have to look quite closely to distinguish them from each other." She looks at Padmé. "As far as I can tell, they appear to be healthy."

"Padmé!" Anakin says with a disbelieving laugh, looking to his wife who looks equally delighted. "We're having twins!" He hurries over and throws his arms around her. It's an awkward angle because she's still seated and he towers over her even when they're both standing but he doesn't care.

She laughs. "Oh, Anakin, this is wonderful news! Twins! Can you imagine?"

"Yeah, yeah, it'll be amazing. It'll be...." he stops, feeling suddenly faint and nauseous. "Oh Force, we're having  _ children _ . Are we ready for this? Am  _ I _ ?! I can't take care of a child. I'm going to be sick."

There's a sudden scrambling around him and before he knows it, he's being nudged down into the chair that Bant had been sitting in. Webbed claw-tipped hands squeeze his shoulders. "Breathe, Anakin," Bant intones.

"Ani, you'll do fine. You're going to be a great father!" Padmé says, squeezing his hand.

"And it's too late anyway," Bant adds—a little too cheerfully, Anakin notes with a scowl. "So you're going to have to figure it out."

Anakin groans and covers his face with his hands. Why do these things happen to him?

 

* * *

 

"Twins!" Anakin says to Obi-Wan's holoprojection later when Padmé is drinking tea with Motee and Bant. They've just taken off and are navigating to the hyperspace lane that will take them to Naboo; Anakin had wanted to share the news before they made the jump and were out of communications range.

Obi-Wan chuckles. "Congratulations, Anakin."

"How did you know?"

"What do you mean?"

"The other night. You asked if I was sure Padmé and I were only going to have just one child and not multiple. How did you know? Was it your precog?"

"No, no, it's never as clear as that. I just thought to myself, 'how could this situation be even more difficult?' And I knew that chances are, that's what it is, because that's how it almost always is with you."

Anakin scowls at him. "No it isn't."

"Yes, Anakin, it is. But you always prevail in the end. And you'll do the same here."

"Thanks, Obi-Wan. Anyway, we're going to be entering hyperspace in a couple of minutes. It'll only take us a little over a day and a half to get to the Chommell Sector with the engine this ship is equipped with. I'll contact you when we drop back into realspace."

"Excellent. I'm just going to finish going through the data that Bant pulled. There's a Council meeting in the morning. I'll announce our resignation then and turn in our lightsabers. I should be able to wrap up everything and set off for Naboo by the next day. It'll take me a little longer, of course, because I don't have access to the kind of high-speed, state-of-the-art vessel that a former queen has."

Anakin bites back a smile and shakes his head. "Just get here when you get here, old man. We'll be waiting."

Obi-Wan nods. "Safe journey, my love. May the Force be with you."

"And with you, my starbird. I'll see you in a few days."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout-out to the anonymous reader who pointed out that there _should_ be data on Force-sensitive pregnancies, after all, because the Corps members were probably allowed to have children. If you're reading this, I hope you like the solution I've come up with. :) There will be more on that in the next chapter.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anakin and Padme learn about the Jedi Corps, get their answer about Force-sensitive pregnancies, and find out more about Obi-Wan; Obi-Wan resigns from the Order; and Palpatine makes a move.

"So," Anakin starts, joining the group in the living area after terminating his call with Obi-Wan. "Bant, what was it you were saying earlier about the Force sensitive pregnancies?"

"Ah, yes," Bant says, setting down her cup of tea. She glances over at Padmé and Motee and her tone takes on a lecturing note. Anakin can see why she and Obi-Wan are friends. "First of all, how much do you know about the Jedi Corps?"

Padmé looks thoughtful. "I've heard the name. They work with the Republic Corps in certain industries like medicine, farming, and research, I believe."

Bant nods and looks at Anakin, who shrugs. He doesn't know much more about them besides the basics, really; hasn't had much interaction with any of them besides the MediCorps and he's usually not in the state of mind to be asking academic questions of them when he sees them. "There's the Agricultural Corp, the Medical Corp, the Educational Corp, and the Exploration Corp," he lists off. "They're where Initiates who don't get chosen as Padawans are sent."

"For the most part," Bant affirms. "The younglings can choose not to join one of the Corps and to go elsewhere instead, of course. Some of them choose to return to their families. But many do decide to stay and serve the Republic and the Force in this way. Padawans who don't pass their Trials also are given the option of joining a Service Corp, though those are fewer in number and even fewer agree to it. Some full Knights and Masters, prior to the war, would become a member of a Corp if they felt called to it strongly enough but since the war started, most of them were recalled to the front lines to lead troops. The MediCorps and the EduCorps are the smallest and they're based out of the main Temple—the MediCorps in the Halls of Healing and the EduCorps in the Archives, though members of the EduCorps do travel to other planets to teach. The AgriCorps has locations and research labs on many worlds."

"That's where Obi-Wan was supposed to go when he wasn't initially chosen," Anakin cuts in. He tugs on their bond subconsciously and realizes with dismay that it's faded a bit. He pokes at it in concern but it just feels like it's being stretched over a distance. He supposes that makes sense, since he's now traveling at great speeds away from Obi-Wan. He's not happy about it, though.

Bant nods. "They use the Living Force to help grow crops for systems in need."

"Why would they send him there? He's always said he had a stronger affinity for the Unifying Force than the Living Force." He worries at their bond absently, wondering if he could possibly strengthen it. Perhaps if he adds a bit more of the Force to it?

Bant shrugs. "I don't know. None of us were privy to the reasoning behind the Council's choice. Perhaps it was for the research opportunities. The Council of Reassignment does take into consideration an Initiate's skills and talents when assigning them to a Corps, to try to ensure the best fit possible."

"Really," Anakin says, unable to hide his skepticism. He glances over at Padmé and Motee but they both appear to just be listening to the exchange in fascination. He remembers then that most people outside of the Order don't know anything about how it's run; the internal affairs of the Jedi have always been closely guarded.

"Yes, though I admit that we couldn't see it when we were younger—the very thought of not being chosen as a Padawan was terrifying, which was an emotion we were told we couldn't give into or else we'd be found unfitting to be a Jedi. Quite a conundrum, wouldn't you say? We were children. How well could we have controlled emotions like that? To us, it felt like it would have been the end of the world not to be chosen and so we did everything we could not to fail, not to even think about failing. But it was inevitable that some of us  _ would _ . There aren't enough Masters for all of the Initiates in every age group to be chosen, not when training a Padawan takes at least a decade."

"That's not a failure, then! How could it be considered a failure if someone could have been perfectly suited to be a Jedi but there just weren't enough Masters around to teach them? They shouldn't have been punished because of a lack of teachers!"

Bant purses her lips and shakes her head. "What else can you do? You can't rush the training of a Padawan and you can't force a Master to accept a Padawan he or she doesn't feel is right for them." Anakin gives her a heavily-laden  _ look _ . "Right, you and Obi-Wan excepted. But you two have always been the exception to the rules and it worked out fine for both of you. In any case, we all competed to catch the attention of a Master. Desperately so as the deadline neared, so that we wouldn't be sent away. The Temple and the Jedi was all any of us knew.

So when someone didn't get chosen—when  _ Obi-Wan _ didn't get chosen, it was devastating. To him and to us. We had thought that he would have been chosen, no question. He was smart and compassionate and had a strong moral and ethical code. He had a temper, yes, but he only lost it for a justifiable cause and he could have been—and was—taught to control it. Master Qui-Gon and the Council saw it differently then, I suppose. So he was sent to the AgriCorp and it  _ felt _ like he was being exiled or banished. Some in our class were in shock, some pitied him, and some boasted in a very un-Jedi-like way. The Corp members," she then explains to Padmé and Motee, "are supposed to be respected just as much as any active Knight or Master. They perform vital functions for the Order and for the Republic; just in different, less obvious, ways. But to younglings who spend their entire lives aspiring to be Knights, it's seen as a poor second choice." Bant shakes her head. "It should be seen as just another path, different but as equally valid as becoming a Knight. A path that Initiates can and would willingly choose because it's more fitting for them. It shouldn't be a consolation. The people who join them shouldn't be thought of as failures."

"Then why doesn't the Council change that?" Anakin demands. The thought of Obi-Wan seeing himself as a failure makes his heart clench. He wishes, irrationally, that he could have been there when Obi-Wan was going through his Trials so that he could make Qui-Gon choose him without him having to be sent away first.

"I don't think they think about the Corps very often. The High Council is made up of Masters who were all chosen to be Padawans and then graduated to full Knights. That's the only path they know. They know of the Corps, of course, but they haven't been there, haven't experienced what it's like to become a member. Obi-Wan's the closest to really understanding it but since he's been on the Council, they've been focused on the war. I only started questioning the process because, well, partly because I saw how it had affected Obi-Wan when it happened to him. But also because when I was training with the healers, I treated many of the Corps members and spoke with a lot of them about their experiences. It wasn't an easy transition for any of them and some didn't cope as well as others. I was in the process of advocating for some of their members to be on the Reassignment Council when the war started and priorities shifted. But the Reassignment Council does try to send younglings to the most suitable places as best they can. And they loosen the restrictions on them. Not officially—the High Council wouldn't approve of that—but they don't expect them to live completely by the Code. So there have been a number of children born to Corps members. Not all of them are Force-sensitive but some are. We—the healers, I mean—have been collecting data for a very long time, trying to figure out if Force sensitivity is a genetic trait that is passed down among families or if it is a random mutation. That's another project that was set aside when the war started. We suspected that it might vary depending on the species and the strength of the parents -"

"But was there any information about the actual pregnancies and deliveries of the babies?" Anakin breaks in, a little restless. Bant blinks at him, clearly a little taken aback and Anakin grins sheepishly. He'd forgotten that it was Bant lecturing and not Obi-Wan, who was used to Anakin getting impatient and interrupting so that they could get straight to the point. "Sorry, Bant."

"No, it's fine. I should have remembered from Obi-Wan's complaints that you have trouble sitting through lectures."

"What?" Anakin asks indignantly. "I do not!" Padmé coughs and when Anakin glances over, she's hiding a smile behind her hand but her eyes are dancing with mirth. He turns back to Bant who's looking at him with one eye brow ridge raised. "Okay, fine, I do. Obi-Wan complained about me to you? Was he doing that during my whole apprenticeship?"

"And beyond." Bant smiles a little. "The group of us met often to support each other in the trials and tribulations of training a Padawan. Most of us could have gone to our own Masters for advice, but that wasn't an option for Obi-Wan. And sometimes, it's just more helpful to talk with your peers."

"Wait, is that where Obi-Wan used to disappear to sometimes when we were back at the Temple?" Anakin asks, remembering something. "He told me once that he was going to a bar and I couldn't go because I was underage! I thought he was just joking."

"Well, I don't know if that was for our meeting. We didn't go to bars. We would have been too conspicuous there. Plus they're too noisy. Instead, Garen or Quinlan would bring some fire-water and we'd hole up in one of the empty rooms in the Temple to share stories."

Anakin tries to picture that—his reserved and respectable and apparently not-so-boring Master with his childhood friends groaning over something Anakin and their other Padawans had done—and his mind draws a blank. Would they have sat on cushions on the floor? He can't see that. Sitting around a conference table drinking expensive fine wine out of fluted glasses? But he can't see Quinlan doing that. Lounging on chaises with their robes off and cheeks flushed from whiskey? Anakin feels a little breathless from imagining Obi-Wan like  _ that _ . He hurriedly cuts that thought off.

"Anakin?" Bant asks. When Anakin focuses back on her, he sees that she looks highly amused. Then she sobers. "Obi-Wan tried very hard to live up to the Code after Melida/Daan. We were getting a bit worried with how much he was trying to change to become what he thought a Jedi should be. Then you came along and at first, we were even more worried because he tried to embody the Code  _ even more _ . Not to mention how he was throwing himself into dangerous missions trying to find the Sith. But he had you and he was always mindful that no matter what happened, he  _ had _ to return alive in order to train you. So that was good. And then you got a little older and really embraced your recklessness and at some point, Obi-Wan hit his threshold and he showed up at my door and said, 'Bant, I can't do this anymore. How can  _ anyone _ train a teenage boy who thinks he's invincible and maintain any sort of calm?' Ironic, really, given his own recklessness. But I think you were exactly the person Obi-Wan needed to get through a really trying time in his life."

"I—really? He kept saying I was going to be the death of him."

"Yes, really. You made him care about you when he was trying to become the Code and sever all attachments."

"But I didn't do anything."

"You didn't have to," Bant says gently. "Just being you was enough. But, going back to your original question: No, there haven't been any known complications in pregnancies where the mother and the child are Force-sensitive. Those tend to go very well, actually, and the mother and child typically develop a rudimentary bond during the pregnancy. It's a fairly weak bond and it does still allow for a Master-Padawan bond to form later with a different person but the parental bond helps both the delivery and with childrearing. Cases where the mother is not Force-sensitive but the child  _ is _ are fewer, but there are also no known complications. It's helpful in those cases for a Force-trained healer to be present for the delivery to ease the process but it's not necessary."

Anakin's breath catches. "So Padmé and the twins will be okay?"

"They should be. Having twins is a little riskier than having just one child in general but human females have been delivering babies for generations without a problem. With a few exceptions, the birthing process is a pretty safe one. Particularly for someone who has the resources and ability to do so in a medcenter which Padmé will be able to do. I will stay and assist with the delivery if I can. The twins appear to be quite strongly connected to the Force already, through Padmé."

"Through Padmé?" Anakin's brow furrows. "But how? She's not Force sensitive."

"She's not, no. But the Force is in everything. Right now, they have a bond with each other and a weak parental bond with her. That bond is acting like a channel, of sorts, through which they're accessing the Force. It'll fade quickly after birth because she doesn't have enough midichlorians to maintain her end of it. As they grow and mature, their own midichlorians will be able to directly connect to the Force."

Anakin releases a breath. "Okay. I'm just happy they're all going to be okay." He looks over to Padmé who just arches a brow at him. He's pretty sure she's trying to convey something along the lines of 'didn't I tell you it would be fine?' He flashes her a smile.

"Well, now that that's settled, I suggest we all get some sleep," Padmé says, pushing herself up from her seat. She braces both hands at the small of her back and massages her muscles there with a small frown; Anakin itches to go join her but stops himself with a quick glance at Bant, who's watching him keenly.

She rolls her eyes at him and her neck gills flare out before settling again. "Oh, go on, Anakin. It's not as if I don't know that the two of you are intimate. And at least she can't get pregnant  _ now _ ."

"Ha ha," Anakin says flatly but he gets up eagerly to go to his wife anyway.

"At this point, nothing else will shock me about you two, unless you tell me you've actually been secretly married all these years."

Anakin freezes.

Padmé stills.

Bant looks between the two of them and sighs heavily. "Oh,  _ Anakin _ ! Does Obi-Wan know about this?"

"Yes, of course," Anakin says, a little defiantly. What is she trying to imply?

"'Of course'?" Bant echoes. "So he's known all along? I find that hard to believe."

"Well....actually, he only found out a few days ago." Anakin winces at the memory; he's tried not to think too much about that night, and all the dark feelings that had threatened to swallow both him and Obi-Wan whole.

"During that night with all the upheaval in the Force? That's what led to all of that? Now it's starting to make sense."

"What does?" He wishes she would just speak plainly. Why do all Jedi seem to like making vague, cryptic statements?

Bant just purses her lips and says, "Your lineage has a history of not taking the loss of their Padawans very well. Or their Masters, for that matter."

Anakin stares at her blankly. "Huh? What do you mean? What's that got to do with anything?"

Bant looks at him a little impatiently. "Qui-Gon lost Xanatos and didn't want to take another Padawan again. Ever. Obi-Wan lost Qui-Gon and, luckily, channeled that loss into killing a Sith lord. You thought you lost Obi-Wan and the entire Temple was walking on morrt eggs around you because they thought you were going to go into a killing rage—"

"What?! I wasn't that bad!" Anakin squawks. He might have been angry, sure. And it might have felt like the cloud of grief surrounding him was going to choke him to death. But he had never even come close to wanting to kill anyone in the Temple!

Bant stares at him incredulously. "Anakin, you wouldn't say a word to anyone. For  _ days _ . You stalked through the halls of the Temple with this black cloud around you that almost no one could see through. The only Jedi who dared to go near you was Ahsoka. Master Windu walked around with one hand on his lightsaber the whole time looking like he was preparing himself to strike you down if there was ever even a speck of yellow in your eyes."

"You wouldn't even talk to  _ me _ , Ani," Padmé speaks up.

Anakin swings his head to look at her; she's got a worried furrow in her brow but he....actually doesn't know what she remembers of those few days in which he had felt like his whole world was turned inside out. Even now, the thought of Obi-Wan dead makes him want to simultaneously throw up and hit things. He shakes his head and pushes the thought aside forcefully. Obi-Wan's fine; he's in the Temple, probably sleeping after spending the evening reading through all the research he and Bant have compiled. Anakin checks on their bond just to further reassure himself; it's still strong and steady, though thinner than he'd like. He'll be happier when they're all together again. "I didn't realize that's what I was doing," he tells them. "I was just lost in my head. But I wasn't having thoughts of hurting anyone in the Temple. I would never."

Bant nods with a twist of her lips but lets the matter go.

Padmé looks unhappy but doesn't pursue it either.

"In any case, when Ahsoka left, we were all worried about what you were going to do. There's been nothing really out of the ordinary so far, which I'm attributing to Obi-Wan's influence. But now  _ Obi-Wan's _ lost  _ you _ , so—"

"Obi-Wan hasn't lost me!" Anakin protests.

Bant arches her brow ridge at him. "You got married to someone. You consciously made a commitment that violated the Code. And hid it from everyone. I know I had said before that the Council probably wouldn't accept the new bond between you and Obi-Wan but they would certainly object to you being married to Padmé. You're not going to be able to stay in the Order."

"Well, Obi-Wan still hasn't lost me," Anakin repeats stubbornly. "And he won't."

"He won't?" Bant asks disbelievingly. Then her eyes widen. "He won't. Of course he won't. That rankweed sucker! So he's decided to leave then? I thought he didn't want to rush into a decision? That he was just thinking about the possibilities?"

"It's kind of a long story. But some things changed and he didn't think I should stay there any longer so I agreed to leave...."

"And of course if you go, he's going to go, too." Bant shakes her head and looks into the distance, like she's trying to process the news but struggling with it.

"....I mean, you can come too if you want?" Anakin offers with a weak smile.

Bant glares at him with her left eye. "That's not a decision to be made without due consideration. I need to meditate," she says abruptly. "Excuse me." She nods to Padmé and Motee in farewell and then is out the door almost before Anakin realizes.

"Why do they all like to meditate so much?" he asks nobody in particular.

Padmé chuckles and walks over to him. "Come on, Ani. Let's just try to get some sleep," she says, taking his elbow and leading him to the door. "Good night, Motee."

Anakin adds his own good night and lets himself be guided down the corridor to Padmé’s sleeping chamber.

 

* * *

 

"Where is Anakin?" Mace questions when the meeting starts, looking exasperated. "Did he not get the summons? We need to discuss the Chancellor's request for him to be made a member of the High Council."

Obi-Wan hasn't taken his seat yet; he hadn't been planning to, figuring that he'd just turn his and Anakin's lightsabers in and take his leave from the meeting. "Considering that he's in hyperspace en route to Naboo at this moment, I doubt that he received it. And if he did, I don't expect that he would have been able to attend this meeting anyway."

Mace's eyes narrow. "Why is he off planet? What if he was needed for something here? To attend this meeting, for example. It's this kind of irresponsible behavior—"

"He's resigned from the Order," Obi-Wan interrupts, holding out Anakin's lightsaber with his right hand.

The silence that descends on the Council chamber is palpable, as the Councilors—both those present in person and those present via holoprojection—sit collectively stunned.

"What?" Mace finally says, lowly.

"Anakin is resigning from the Order," Obi-Wan repeats. He unclips his own lightsaber from his belt and holds it out with his other hand. "As am I."

At that pronouncement, the chamber erupts into uncharacteristic noise:

"Obi-Wan, what are you saying—" Master Plo Koon's holoprojection starts.

"What do you mean? What madness is this?"Master Saesee Tiin asks.

"Are you quite certain, Obi-Wan?" Master Kit Fisto asks with concern.

"Silence!" Mace snaps.

In the next chair over, Master Yoda sits quietly, shoulders and ears drooping as he looks at Obi-Wan somberly. He looks every year his age and Obi-Wan feels his heart clench. For as long as he can remember, Yoda has been a teacher and a mentor to him, always providing encouragement and knowledge in that unique way of his. "....made up his mind, Obi-Wan has," Yoda pronounces heavily. "Change it we will not, regardless of the arguments. His heart, given to another he has. No longer can he follow the way of the Order. But of the Force?"

Obi-Wan bows his head, feeling oddly abashed that Master Yoda could read him so well, though he supposes that he shouldn't be surprised. "I will always be a follower of the Force, Master. But I feel that I am needed more elsewhere now."

Master Yoda just nods and hums but his ears lift back up and he seems to relax.

"Before you go, Obi-Wan," Mace says, watching him intently, "will you do one more thing? We've received reports that General Grievous is on Utapau. Of all of us, you've had the most encounters with him and the best chance of defeating him and apprehending him. He's taken the lives of many Jedi in the course of the war and he must be stopped."

Obi-Wan closes his eyes and fights the part of him that wants to immediately take the mission (because Mace is right, Grievous has made it his personal vendetta to take out as many Jedi as he can and he wields the lightsabers he's confiscated from deceased Jedi like they were his trophies. It's an abhorrent practice and Jedi aren't supposed to want revenge but Obi-Wan wants to bring him to justice for all that he's done). Breathing out steadily to slow down his heart rate and re-center himself, he opens his eyes to look at Mace again and asks, "Can no one else go?"

Mace shakes his head. "No one with as good of a chance of success as you. This is our best chance of ending the war decisively. With Dooku dead, Grievous is the last figurehead the Separatists could rally behind."

"But you or Master Yoda—"

Mace shakes his head again. "Master Yoda is going to be departing for Kashyyk, to provide aide to the Wookiees. So I must remain here."

And the others...Mace is right. He's been deployed far more than the others and he's confronted Grievous the most often. He has a better idea of the other's fighting style than anyone else on the Council, or just about anyone else in the Order for that matter. The only other Jedi who could claim that is Anakin.

_ Anakin. _ Obi-Wan bites his lip.  _ He's not going to be happy about this. _

But Anakin's always been a proponent of ending the war quickly and at least if Obi-Wan does this, he can leave the Order and step back from the front lines knowing that it's just a matter of clean up and reunification for the Republic. Obi-Wan glances at Anakin's lightsaber still in his hand and can't help quirking a small smile. He's quite sure Anakin will insist on joining him for this last mission.

"Very well," Obi-Wan says. "But I will not go as a Jedi."

Mace's lips purse unhappily. "People will talk if we enter your names into the Archive now and announce the news. It will be a blow to the Republic and to the morale of the Knights and Masters still fighting."

Obi-Wan frowns. He can see how losing two Jedi Generals in the midst of the war might cause unrest within the troops. He doesn't quite believe Padmé’s claim that he and Anakin are hailed as the big heroes in the war but they have regularly been in the holonews giving interviews so the public does know their names and the information about their departure could distract from other, more important matters. And any loss at all, when their numbers are already so limited, would not be easily accepted by the rest of the Jedi. He sighs. "Very well. Then make the announcement after. But I insist that you accept our resignations now."

Mace narrows his eyes at him in disapproval but Obi-Wan refuses to cede on this. He knows that he can just as easily give his resignation over the comms after he's dealt with Grievous but he doesn't want to risk that this is just a wild bantha chase that will delay their leaving the Order. He's determined to make this his final mission in the war, regardless of whether he finds Grievous on Utapau or not. So Obi-Wan meets Mace's stare evenly and gives not an inch.

Mace looks away and Obi-Wan knows he's the victor. He glances around at the other Masters, who have all been sitting as if frozen during the battle of wills. "Very well," Mace says finally, and all at once, the tension leaves the room. "We accept the resignation of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Knight Anakin Skywalker from the Jedi Order on this fifteenth day of the fifth month of year sixteen of ReSynchronization. Their names shall be entered into the Archive as Renunciates of the Order upon completion of this final mission. Two bronzium busts will be erected to commemorate your service."

"Now Mace," Obi-Wan protests, "there's no need for a  _ bust _ ."

"Nonsense, Obi-Wan. Each of the Lost Twenty has one listing all of their great deeds, so of course you'll get one as well. It'll be one of the first things we do when this war is over." Mace grows serious. "They will serve as reminders of what you have done for us and also that the Order is not the right path for everyone."

Obi-Wan bows his head in silent acceptance. He extends the lightsabers again for Mace to take.

But the other Master just shakes his head. "Keep them."

"What?" Obi-Wan asks, furrowing his brow. "But the crystals—"

"Keep them," Mace repeats. "In honor of all that you and Anakin have done for the Order and for the Republic."

"Oh. I thank you," Obi-Wan says a little shakily. He gingerly clips both lightsabers back onto his belt, consciously keeping his hands steady. He hadn't thought this would affect him as strongly as it is; the finality hasn't quite hit him until now. He remembers when he had first done this, all those years ago. It had seemed easier then, maybe because only Master Qui-Gon had been there to accept his resignation and it hadn't been in the Council chambers; or maybe because he had been young and full of conviction and adrenaline.

Well, he may not be that young anymore and he is doing it in front of the entire Council this time, but he is still full of conviction in his decision. He holds onto that as he gives a slight bow to the Council. "I shall go prepare for deployment."

"We will update the Chancellor on your accepting the mission." Mace stands and bows to him. "May the Force be with you. Farewell, old friend."

There's a shuffle around the room as one by one, the other Masters who are physically present stand and bow; the holoprojections of those who are elsewhere also bow. "May the Force be with you," they collectively intone and the room is suffused with a sense of warmth and light.

Obi-Wan feels momentarily overwhelmed by their regard. He hadn't been expecting anything like this and doesn't know how to respond. He finally just bows down deeper, and murmurs, "Thank you." Then he leaves, head spinning with the enormity of what he's just done. Is this really the right path for him? But he thinks of Anakin and knows that yes, it is. He hurries back to their (former, now) shared quarters to finish packing the few belongings that he plans to bring with him. He won't be returning to the Temple after this mission.

 

* * *

 

"What of the fourth Corps?" Padmé asks suddenly when she and Anakin have met up with Bant again and reconvened around the circular table in the ship's dining area. There's a large bowl of assorted fruits, another one of assorted dried krill, and two tea pots (one with caffeinated tea and one with just hot water) in the center of the table. Anakin resists using the Force to grab some fruits and sticks to using his utensils. He thinks Obi-Wan would be proud of him for being 'civilized.'

"Hm?" Bant asks while scooping up some krill onto a small plate. She looks a little tired; Anakin wonders if she had slept at all during the ship's sleep cycle or if she had spent the whole time meditating.

"Anakin mentioned four Corps last night but you only told us about three of them."

"Ah, yes. The Exploration Corps. They're the most scattered throughout the Republic. They have a fleet of scout ships, a number of bases on ORD worlds, and a praxeum ship. Mobile training academy," Bant clarifies at Padmé’s blank look. She seems relieved to have an academic question to answer. "We used to have many of them before the Sith War but most of them were destroyed and then the rest were allowed to fall into disrepair over the centuries. We only have one active ship now. It's called the  _ Chu'unthor _ , named after the original one which crashed on Dathomir a couple of hundred years ago. It goes out on long missions discovering new worlds and making contact with new civilizations. It's a capital class ship and it has some defensive and offensive capabilities to protect them in unknown territories. The crew and passengers are made up of pilots, fighters, ambassadors, and researchers, both Force-sensitive and not. They provide formal education and experiential learning to both former Initiates and students of other disciplines."

Padmé frowns. "And they've continued their travels during the war? I don't recall hearing about that ship being used as one of the Republic's war ships, though it sounds like it's equipped to be."

"They...hm...they actually left on a mission into wild space a few years before the war started. Let me see, when was that? Maybe five years ago? They haven't been back since but they must be due to return soon. The ship is only capable of being stocked and supplied for up to five years of space travel. They could restock at an outpost or on one of the planets they've discovered and keep going, of course, but they generally do return every five years to report on their findings and take on new crew. And to let the students they've taken on return to their universities and finish their degrees, of course."

"So they don't know about the war?" Padmé clarifies, brows furrowed. "They haven't been recalled from their exploration to help with the fighting? Surely with the number of people they have on board that ship and the connections they've made, they would have been a major asset to the war efforts."

Bant shrugs. "They're pretty removed from the Order, and they had been even before the war started. Because of the very nature of their mission, the Council has the least oversight over them. They left with a full crew, of course, but Force only knows if they've picked up additional crew members or passengers during their trip or, Force forbid, lost anyone."

"I think I've heard stories of them returning with ambassadors from some of the new civilizations they found. Didn't that cause a stir a few years ago among the Intergalactic Zoological Society?" Anakin chimes in. He only remembers it because Obi-Wan had gone on a tirade about how the Society had botched the meeting by being too enthusiastic towards their visitors. Those worlds had...opted not to join the Republic at the time.

"Yeah, that was them. But I don't know what they know or what they've been instructed to do in this war. If they've been in communication with anyone at the Temple, it would have been the High Council. And they like to keep information on a need-to-know basis."

"Don't I know it," Anakin mutters, only a little bitter. Padmé just looks thoughtful.

 

* * *

 

"Master Kenobi!" the Chancellor's mild voice calls out pleasantly from behind Obi-Wan and Cody while they're supervising the loading of supplies onto the transports they'll take to rendezvous with the star destroyers in orbit.

Obi-Wan turns and sees the Chancellor, Mace, and Yoda walking up to them. He gives the group a small bow while Cody salutes smartly. "Chancellor, Master Windu, Master Yoda," Obi-Wan acknowledges.

"Master Kenobi, I just wanted to convey my thanks to you for accepting the mission to Utapau," Palpatine says with a smile. "I admit that I had hoped you would be the one taking it; you and Anakin have had such a high rate of success with missions throughout the war; I have no doubt that you'll be able to end this quickly."

"Thank you, Chancellor," Obi-Wan says.

The Chancellor frowns then and looks around. "And where is Anakin? Master Windu told me that he wasn't able to attend the Council meeting this morning. I tried calling his communicator but he didn't answer. I thought perhaps I could catch him here before you go."

"Anakin is not here, Chancellor. He hasn't been assigned to this mission."

The Chancellor's gaze sharpens. "Oh? Is he not well?"

Obi-Wan darts a quick look over at Mace who gives the smallest shake of his head. So, the Council hasn't informed the Chancellor yet of their resignations. That's just as well, though they're likely only withholding the information because they think the Chancellor is withholding information from  _ them _ . He watches Palpatine carefully as he says, "He's offworld at the moment, on personal business."

Palpatine stiffens. "He's not here? What personal business is he taking care of that's of such import that he needed to leave the planet  _ now _ ?"

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say," Obi-Wan says smoothly.

"I see. But you know what it is? I must say, Master Kenobi, I'm surprised that you've...allowed him to go at such a time. Is he not one of the best Generals in the Order?"

"He is. But he needed to be elsewhere. I will let him know that you wish to speak with him when next I see him."

"That would be very good. Well," Palpatine says with a smile, "it's a pity he won't be going on the mission with you but I am confident that you will nevertheless prevail over General Grievous. Good luck, Master Kenobi. What is it the Jedi say? Ah yes, may the Force be with you."

Obi-Wan shivers; the words sound chilling when Palpatine says them, almost more of a threat than a benediction. "Thank you, Chancellor." To Mace and Yoda, he says, "I will check in when we arrive in the Kessil system."

Mace nods. "Very well." Then, the three of them continue their walk down the hangar bay, surveying the troop movements.

Obi-Wan watches their procession absently. "Cody, gather up the troops for a debrief once we're on the star destroyer. I have an announcement to make."

"Yessir."

 

* * *

 

Obi-Wan looks out at the hundreds of members of the 212th in the assembly bay, formed into perfectly straight lines. After years of hard missions and active combat, small scars differentiate the clones from each other; but even without those, he'd know who they all are. These are men he's led into one dangerous situation after another, who have followed him without question and given their lives and their loyalty to the Republic. They'd all come to rely on each other for their survival and without them, he would have likely died several times over in this war.

They deserve to know that he's leaving.

"We've been through many difficult missions together, been successful even against the worst odds," he starts. "It's been an honor fighting beside each and every one of you. But, this will be the last mission we'll be serving together. I am...resigning from the Jedi Order. I have, in fact, already resigned from the Order." He can sense the surprise and the consternation in them, but they're all disciplined enough to maintain their stances and their silence. "It won't be made public until after this mission, but I wanted you to find out from me first."

"Sir," Cody says from next to him.

Obi-Wan turns to him. "Yes, Commander?"

Cody salutes him smartly and as one the rest of the battalion follow suit. "It's been an honor serving with you as well, General. Truly." Then he breaks into a ferocious grin. "So let's go get this bucket of bolts and end the war. One last victory to go out on, eh?"

Obi-Wan smiles back. "Yes, that is the plan indeed, Commander." Turning back to the troops, he says, "You are dismissed. You may return to your duties."

"So, sir, what do you plan on doing in your...retirement?" Cody asks while the two of them watch the others file out of the room. He sounds like he's doubting that Obi-Wan is actually doing this to retire and lead a quiet life.

Obi-Wan lips twist wryly. "'Retirement' makes me sound so old, Cody. It's more of a change in career. And I don't know yet. I'll have to figure out what else I can be besides a Jedi and a war general."

Cody nods. "Hard to imagine life without battles in it."

It strikes Obi-Wan that a peaceful future, as difficult as it is for him to believe in some days, must be nearly impossible for the clones to even comprehend, given that they've been born and bred specifically for war. "What will  _ you _ do, Cody?"

"What do you mean, sir?"

"Call me Obi-Wan, Cody. I'm not technically part of the military hierarchy anymore." Cody just raises a brow at him and Obi-Wan stifles a sigh. "What will you do when the war is over? The end seems near. I haven't heard yet if the Senate plans to maintain the army during peacetime, though I doubt they'll want to take on the expenses of maintaining a standing army if they don't need one. So what will you do?"

Cody looks thoughtful for a moment. "I don't know, sir. To be honest, most of us didn't think we would live past the end of the war. Perhaps...well, perhaps it would be nice to try civilian life for a couple of years. Maybe see the galaxy not from behind a blaster."

Obi-Wan nods in understanding. "Well, comm me if your travels bring you near Naboo. I suspect that's where I'll be for a few years."

"Naboo, huh?" Cody says and eyes Obi-Wan knowingly but doesn't say anything more. Obi-Wan almost wants to ask him why he's looking at him like that, but then decides that he doesn't really want to know.

"Yes. Now let's check in with the flight crew and see if we're ready for departure. I find myself quite eager to finish this mission. I'll have to give them my news while we're in hyperspace, assuming they haven't already heard from their comrades."

"News travels fast in the army, especially news like yours," Cody agrees and they make their way to the bridge. "Sir?" he says as they're walking down one of the corridors. "If you're not a Jedi anymore, why are you still wearing the Jedi robes?"

"Oh, I don't own any other set of garments."

"You know, I believe we have an extra set of armor in your size...."

Obi-Wan chuckles. "Still trying to get me back into armor, Cody? I've told you before, it's a bit too restrictive for saber fighting."

Cody scowls at him. "But it's much more protective against blaster bolts."

"True enough. Well, I'll consider it. Perhaps once we arrive and have a better sense of what kind of battle it'll be."

"That's what you always say," Cody mutters unhappily.

 

* * *

 

"Anakin," Obi-Wan begins when R2D2 signals that the message is recording. He'd objected when Anakin had insisted on leaving the droid with him but he supposes that he's rather glad of it now. He'll never admit this to Anakin but his R2 unit is one of the best astromech droids in the army, feisty though he may be and colorful as his binary speech tends to be. Obi-Wan's been making do with interpreting the tones and pitches of his beeps to figure out what he's saying but R2 seems to understand him just fine, luckily. "I'm afraid you won't be very happy to hear this but the Council had a lead on Grievous' whereabouts and I'm currently en route to Utapau with the 212th. The Council did accept our resignations, so that's one piece of good news. They've asked that it not be made public until after this mission is over, which I've agreed to."

Distantly, he hears the communications officer call out to Cody that there's an incoming call originating from Coruscant. Obi-Wan frowns. They're nearing the hyperspace jump point; their navigator has already entered the coordinates into the computer. Who could be comming them now? And what about?

"Put it through" Cody says and Obi-Wan decides to let him handle it.

"This is the best chance of ending the war without further delay," he continues into R2's vidrecorder. "I expect that if you're able to, you'll want to rendezvous with us before we launch our attack. You ought to have plenty of time to do so. It'll take us about six days of hyperspace travel to reach the Kissel system."

"Ah, Commander Cody, so good to see you," a sibilant voice drawls over the communications' audio channel.

"Who are you? Identify yourself," Cody says sharply behind him.

Obi-Wan frowns again. Something's not right. He turns and sees the blue holoimage of a hooded man floating over the center of the ship's transceiver. The cowl of his hood covers most of his face so that only his mouth is visible. The rest of his body is covered in a long, dark robe. His hands are folded into his sleeves.

"Hello, Master Kenobi," the man says. There's a nasally hiss to his words and there's something faintly familiar about the tone. "I'm sure you must also be wondering who I am. Well, I am the Sith Lord the Jedi have been fruitlessly searching for for years. I am the one who orchestrated this war. I am the one who's been pulling all the strings - the Senate's, the Jedi's, and the Confederacy's. I am...Darth Sidious."

"Trace the signal!" Cody snaps to the communications officer. The officer calls out an affirmative and bends to his task, hands flying over his console.

"What do you want?" Obi-Wan asks. "We  _ will _ find you."

"Oh, I very much doubt that, Master Kenobi. You see, I've been ahead of you every step of the way. I've been under your noses for over a decade and no one has ever suspected that I am the one you are after. In fact, I've been voted into power by the Senate, trusted by the Jedi High Council, befriended by the most powerful Jedi to ever live. I've been hiding in plain sight, biding my time. And you, Jedi Master Kenobi, you've interfered with my plans for the last time."

Obi-Wan has a sinking feeling in his gut with every word the hooded figure says. Surely it can't be - they couldn't have been deceived so completely—

—the man reaches up and pushes back the cowl of his hood, revealing the oh-so-familiar visage of the Chancellor with a very unfamiliar savage twist to his lips and glow in his eyes.

"Palpatine," Obi-Wan hisses. "Turn us back towards Coruscant!" he shouts to the navigator, and to the communications officer: "Open up a line to the Temple!"

As the clones move to comply, the Chancellor just chuckles. "It's too late, Master Kenobi. You see, I am the Supreme Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. And this army was cloned, bred, programmed, and trained under  _ my _ orders. Their loyalty belongs to  _ me _ ." He makes a show of looking around the command bridge. Then he intones, "Execute Order 66."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I initially had a whole ton of notes to write here and now I can't remember most of it. Oh well. Here are some disclaimers:
> 
> \- Just about all of the information about the Corps is pulled from Legends info on Wookieepedia, with the exception of the bit about the Corps members having children. That headcanon came initially from an anonymous reader who I agreed with.  
> \- The Exploration Corps really does have a ship that is capable of carrying 5 years' worth of consumables - I took that to mean that it can go on 5-year missions and I may have been tempted to reference the Enterprise but this was never meant to be a crossover or fandom fusion fic so....  
> \- The Lost Twenty was mentioned in a deleted scene in AOTC; the part about the busts came from Wookieepedia.  
> \- I have no idea if Mon Calamari have gills and if so, what their function is but they're supposed to be able to spend prolonged periods of time underwater, right? So they must have a way of breathing


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fallout from Order 66, as seen through Obi-Wan and Anakin's eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was beta'd by the lovely [Dendral](http://dendral.tumblr.com/). Any remaining mistakes are mine.

Nobody moves for several seconds, though Obi-Wan can see Trik and Scope look at him and twitch their hands towards their blasters; others close their hands into fists at their sides.

"What are you doing?" Palpatine's image hisses. " _ Execute Order 66. _ "

Still nobody moves but the tension in the room ratchets up. Obi-Wan prepares himself to pull his lightsaber into his hand if need be, his well-honed battle senses warning him that something's happening on a level that he can't see.

"What is Order 66?" Obi-Wan asks, not really expecting an answer. And he doesn't get one, though Cody's eyes slide over to him and he grips the railing in front of him tightly before going back to glaring at the holoimage of the Chancellor who, if the image depicted more colors than just digital blue, Obi-Wan imagines would be red in the face.

"I will have your heads for your insolence," the Chancellor snarls. "Execute Order 7—"

R2D2 chooses that moment to scream and go careening up to the communications station, plugging his spacecraft linkage arm into the console. Palpatine's image fritzes and then disappears. R2 lets out a series of beeps, sounding triumphant.

"Yes, okay, good job, Artoo. Lin, open up that line to the Temple. We need to tell them what happened. Graf, take us back to Coruscant. Capturing Grievous is going to have to wait. Cody, what is Order 66?"

Then he feels it—a disturbance in the Force. Something that causes ripples in the stream and dims the light by just the minutest amount—a death. A Force-sensitive being just died; Obi-Wan's felt enough Jedi die over the past couple of years to recognize that particular sense of loss in the Force.

Then there's another one, causing more ripples.

And another one. The ripples are colliding against each other and building into waves.

They keep coming, one right after the other, some of them coming so close together it's like they're happening at the same time. He gasps and hunches over, the losses hammering against him in a relentless surge and threatening to pull him under the swells. There's violence in the Force, clouds crashing together and rumbling restlessly.

"Sir?" Cody asks, sounding concerned.

"The Jedi. They're dying," Obi-Wan grits out. "Why aren't we connected to the Temple yet?" Before the communications officer can respond, he shakes his head. "Never mind. I'll comm Master Windu directly."

Mace answers almost immediately. "Yes, what is it Obi-Wan?" he says tersely, attention focused elsewhere.

"Mace, we've been betrayed. The—"

"Clones, I know," Mace answers grimly.

Obi-Wan's a little taken aback. "I was going to say the Chancellor, actually. What's happening with the clones?" He glances over at Cody, who's watching the transmission intently, fists clenched.

"They're marching on the Temple," Mace says shortly. He's looking out at something that Obi-Wan can't see, hand gripping his saber hilt; Obi-Wan guesses that he's looking out the windows of the Council chamber. "There's at least a legion of them. What is this about the Chancellor?"

"He's the Sith Lord." Mace lifts his saber briefly, almost as a reflex, before he settles it at his side again. "We're on our way back."

"No," Mace says, surprising him. "You're already hours out, you won't make it back in time. We're evacuating the Temple. How are your troops?"

"They're okay, I think. The Chancellor commed us, gave them an Order—66—but nothing happened."

"Okay, good. Find the Jedi who have been deployed, provide them with assistance, extract them."  _ Rescue them, _ he doesn't say but Obi-Wan knows that's what he wants to say.

"A lot of them have already—"

"Some of them will have survived."

"General Kenobi, sir, we've got incoming," Graf calls out from the navigation station. Obi-Wan looks out the viewscreen and sees a Star Destroyer coming towards them. "It's the  _ Tranquility _ ."

Mace must hear the announcement; he furrows his brow and says, "That's the ship Master Yoda took to go to Kashyyk. Luminara's with him. They left shortly after you did."

"Do you suppose that they're—"

"Sir, they're firing up their cannons!"

"Raise the forward shield!" Cody barks. "Hail them. What do they think they're doing?"

"He's still alive," Mace says as the blasts from the other ship make contact with their shields; bright lights flare up at different points in front of the viewscreen. He must be thinking the same thing that Obi-Wan is: if the clones on that ship are attacking his, Yoda must not be in command anymore.

But Obi-Wan is certain that Mace is right; had Yoda passed into the Force, they would have felt it.

"The clones have engaged the guards. I must go," Mace says abruptly.

Obi-Wan nods. "May the Force be with you."

"And with you." The call terminates.

The bridge's comm unit connects with the  _ Tranquility _ 's and a clone commander's holoimage appears. "Commander Gree," Cody says severely. "What is the meaning of this? Cease firing this instant."

"You have a Jedi on board. We must kill the Jedi," Gree answers. Obi-Wan blinks. What?

Cody shakes his head. "Your intel is outdated. We don't have any Jedi on board."

The other commander frowns. "This isn't Master Kenobi's ship?"

"It is but he's not a Jedi. He's resigned from the Order. He's no longer a target."

"Cody, what is the meaning of this?" Obi-Wan breaks in. Why are they talking about killing Jedi? Why is a legion of clones attacking the Temple?

"We've been given orders to kill the Jedi," Cody tells him without missing a beat.

"What? By  _ whom _ ?"

Cody furrows his brow at him, as if he doesn't understand why Obi-Wan is asking. "The Chancellor. Just now, before the droid cut off the transmission."

"You mean Order 66?"

"Yes," Cody says with a distant look in his eyes. "We must kill the Jedi. Good soldiers follow orders."

 

* * *

 

"Can't sleep?" Bant asks, entering the cockpit.

Anakin shakes his head. "I'm still a little too anxious about Padmé and the pregnancy to sleep. So I told Captain Typho I'd pilot for a bit while he slept. You?"

"I...dislike being on ships."

"You're spacephobic?" Anakin asks, surprised.

Bant shudders a bit. "It's the coldness of it. This void in which nothing can live."

"Oh. I think it's rather peaceful, actually. It's just you and the stars and no one around to expect things of you. It makes me remember that there's so much more out there than what we know, so much more we can explore and learn about, if only we weren't in this kriffing war."

"That sounds like something Obi-Wan would say, except that he hates flying," Bant comments with a small smile.

"He does. But he likes the exploration part of traveling. He gets so excited every time we go to a new planet and interact with new civilizations." Anakin smiles softly, and then quirks his lips. "He tries not to show it, of course, because he thinks it's not Jedi-like to be enthusiastic about something, but I can tell. His eyes get sharper and his speech gets faster, like his brain is trying to process as much information as it can in the limited time we get on the planet and he's trying to keep up with it. And he just—he  _ lights _ up in the Force."

Bant tilts her head thoughtfully. "You really care about him."

"I do."

"You love him." She says it simply, and there's no censure in her tone at all. Still, Anakin hesitates. Every Jedi he's ever talked to about love and the Code has condemned him for his views.

"Yes," he says finally, daring her to say what everyone else has said; that the Code forbids love and attachment, that love isn't something the Jedi indulge in.

Instead, she continues with, "And you love the Senator."

Again, he hesitates. Where is she going with this? "Yes, I do," he confirms.

"And the two of them...?"

"They know. I love them both," he says vehemently. "Differently because they're different people but I love them both equally and I need them both and I would never choose one over the other. And I would never choose anything over them."

"Okay," Bant says. Then, "Good."

He blinks, floored. "'Good'?"

"Yes, good. Obi-Wan's loved you in all the ways it's possible to love someone for the past...oh, probably since he met you. He doesn't always know how to show it—he usually doesn't, actually, but he does. He'd have chosen you over anything, even when you were a child. Maybe especially when you were a child." Bant shakes her head fondly.

"Obi-Wan doesn't know how not to get attached," she continues, voice hushed. "And he doesn't know how to do things for himself. Most Jedi don't—it's not something we were encouraged to do when we were growing up. But he actively will give things up for others. He actively chooses others over himself. And no one," she says fiercely, "has chosen him back. Everyone he had grown attached to chose other things besides him. And he respected all of those choices, accepted them, absorbed the hurt, and let them go. But he deserves to be chosen too. So, Anakin Skywalker. He's chosen you. If you hurt him, I will visit upon you all the hurt in the universe. Understood?"

Anakin swallows. "Yes." Then, something occurs to him. "No one's chosen him? What about you? Would you choose him?"

"I'm here, aren't I?" Then she gasps and doubles over, bracing herself against the back of the pilot's seat.

"Bant? What's wrong?" Anakin asks as she clutches her head. Then he feels it too—what sounds like a moan and feels like a punch in the gut from the Force. "What is that?" he wheezes. "What's happening?" He feels nauseous suddenly and every fiber of his being is screaming that there's something wrong, that they're doomed, that they're going to die. He glances around desperately as Bant stumbles into the seat next to him. The viewscreen is still showing the blue streaks of hyperspace and the ship is silent; there are no lights flashing and no alarms blaring.

"It's not us," Bant says, looking pained. "Listen to the Force."

Anakin does and all he hears is distant cries of alarm, surprise,  _ pain _ . And in some areas, the sudden absence of a life. "People are...dying. Or being injured. But people have been dying or getting injured in the war for years. Why is the Force reacting like this now?"

"Because," Bant says, face pale, "it's not just anyone. It's beings who are strong in the Force. Massive numbers of them being killed or injured simultaneously. The Force can absorb the life essence of a Force-sensitive with just minor ripples but this must be too much."

"'Beings who are strong in the Force'?" Anakin repeats, feeling sicker. His hands clench, the knuckles of his left hand going white while the joints of his left creak in protest. "You mean Jedi, don't you? Massive numbers of Jedi are being killed right now? Oh,  _ Force _ !" He jumps up but his legs give out on him and he falls back into his seat. " _ Obi-Wan. _ What if he's one of them? What if he's injured or dying or, or, or  _ already _ dead? And we're just sitting here,  _ useless _ !"

"Anakin!" Bant snaps. He looks over and can see that she's barely keeping her own worries at bay. "Calm down. We have to find out what's going on. Drop us out of hyperspace."

"Right, right, good idea," he says and forces himself to take in a couple of gulping deep breaths. His heart won't stop racing and it's almost painful; it feels like it's going to beat itself right out of his chest.  _ Just focus on the controls for the ship! How do I get us out of hyperspace? Think! Focus! _

Bant's hand landing on his shoulder startles him. "You're hyperventilating, Anakin," she says and he realizes then that he is. His hands are shaking. He stills them, though only the metal one settles. He tries to regulate his breathing the way Obi-Wan had taught him all those years ago when he was first learning to meditate. He reaches reflexively for their bond and then jerks back when he realizes that it trails off into the dark purple, blue, and pink clouds of the Force. He can't—he can't follow it right now. What if it ends? What if Obi-Wan really is dead? He thinks he'd rather not know than have it confirmed. He focuses on his breathing instead. Just his breathing. Which is....also shaky but getting less so with each conscious breath he takes.

"Okay," he says after what feels like hours but was probably—hopefully—just seconds. Then he remembers—right, so that's how one would exit hyperspace manually. And his fingers automatically punch the right buttons and enter the correct code into the console and part of him wishes Artoo is here instead of with—he cuts that thought off.

There's a sudden jolt as the ship drops out of hyperspace and the blackness of real space surrounds them. He shuts off the engines; there's no sense in going anywhere until they figure out where it is they need to go. Their original itinerary is going to have to be discarded.

An alert beeps—just the trill of a message received by the ship's comm unit. He glances at it and his heart seizes when he sees that it's from the  _ Negotiator _ .

"This was recorded just a few hours ago," Bant says and Anakin looks at the message details and she's right. A few hours ago, when he had been sitting in the pilot's seat comfortable and safe and watching hyperspace streak by in various shades of blue and Obi-Wan had been...where? Had he been somewhere safe too? Or had he been where all the other Jedi were when they were killed? Had he been fighting for his life? Recording this message for him while he had been bleeding out? "We should watch it," Bant prompts gently. "It might tell us what's happening."

Anakin knows and he agrees, though he's also dreading what the message might say. He shakily starts the playback.

 

* * *

 

"Cody," Obi-Wan says, tamping down his consternation at his commander's monotonous voice. It's like  _ Cody _ isn't there anymore. He grabs a hold of Cody's shoulder and squeezes. "Cody, look at me."

Cody shakes his head slowly and blinks at Obi-Wan like he's coming out of a daze.

"The Jedi and the clones have always worked together. What's changed? Why are the clones trying to kill them now?"

Cody just shakes his head again. "Good soldiers follow orders," is all he says. Then he seems to realize something and turns back to Gree's image. " _ You _ have Jedi on board. Have you taken care of them yet?"

He means Yoda and Luminara, Obi-Wan realizes with growing dread.

Gree shakes his head. "Negative. We injured one but they managed to elude us and escape into the ventilation system. We're searching for them now."

Obi-Wan starts to breathe a sigh of relief but then Cody nods sharply and calls out, "Raise the cannons. Prepare to fire."

"Wait!" Obi-Wan says, grabbing Cody's shoulder again. "What are you doing?"

 

* * *

 

Anakin's hands are clenched into fists by the time the recording ends.

Bant looks at him in concern but says only, "Should we also watch the message that came in a few minutes ago?" It flashes the bright green of a breaking news alert. Anakin grits his teeth and nods; Bant opens the message.

_ "People of the Republic," Palpatine says gravely, sitting at his desk. "I come to you with terrible news. I have learned that the Jedi have betrayed us." He pauses, as if to allow that to sink in for the viewers. "I know that this is shocking news and not something that any of us had thought we would hear. But do not worry. I, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, have already taken steps to neutralize this threat to our safety." He taps something on his desk and a holovid appears, displaying two ships firing on each other, lights flaring around them as blasts hit shields. _

"That's the  _ Negotiator _ ! He's going to destroy Obi-Wan's ship, with him still in it! We have to go. We have to help!" Anakin turns back to the navigation controls.

"Wait, Anakin, look," Bant says and when he looks up at her, she gestures back to the video.

Anakin looks and gasps when he sees the second video the Chancellor is displaying: clone soldiers marching up the steps of the Temple, Temple guards positioned among the pillars with their lightsaber pikes lit and ready. Anakin can just make out Master Drallig among the guards. "No. This can't—I have to—" he stops the message playback and enters a commlink number that he's sick to realize he knows by heart.

Palpatine answers immediately and smiles widely, genially, at him as if he hadn't just ordered the murder of thousands of Anakin's comrades. "Anakin, my boy! I trust that your trip went well?"

"Call them off," he demands. There's a fire in him that's slowly consuming him. He wants to reach out and choke the life out of this—this  _ monster _ who  _ pretended _ to be Anakin's friend,  _ pretended _ to care about him,  _ pretended _ to understand him.

Palpatine blinks and tilts his head. "What are you talking about?"

"Call. Them. Off." Anakin repeats in a growl. "I saw the news alert. Call off the army!"

"Now, now, Anakin, I know that they're your friends but they've betrayed us. They betrayed the Republic. And they're a threat. I can't just let them go."

"Stop  _ lying _ , Palpatine!" Anakin yells. "I know what you are! I know that you're a  _ Sith _ . You're  _ the _ Sith. Darth Sidious. And somehow you've subverted the clones to your will. And you're using them to kill the Jedi. Call them off!"

Palpatine drops the pleasant facade and stares haughtily at him. Anakin feels sick that he hadn't ever seen through that front before. How could he be so stupid? "Well," Palpatine says. "If you know that, then you know exactly why I won't call off the clones. It's too late for your precious friends, Skywalker. It's too late for your precious Master. It's too late for your Republic. This is the Galactic Empire now. You can join me, and save the loved ones you still have. Or you can watch them all die and join me when the grief and the helplessness pushes you into the Dark Side. It's your choice." He smiles cruelly. "I'll give you some time to think about it." The call terminates.

Anakin slams his fist down, cracking the casing of the console. "I'll kill him," he snarls. "I'm gonna  _ kill _ him!" The fire is an inferno now, the red and orange and yellow of the flames coloring his vision.

"Anakin!" Bant cries out and she sounds—terrified. She squeezes his arm and he whips his head around to look at her.

"Don't worry, Bant. I'll take care of him. He won't get away with this."

She shakes her head and he sees that she's gripping the handle of her lightsaber tightly with the hand not holding onto him. "He's not the one I'm worried about right now.  _ You _ are. You have to calm down. Get control over yourself! If you don't, you're going to Fall!"

"I'm not going to Fall!" he says and shakes her off. Flames race along his veins, giving him life, giving him energy, driving him to  _ do what's right, what needs to be done. _

"Yes, you will," Bant says and her tone changes. She doesn't sound scared anymore but grim and determined. "And if you do, I  _ will _ kill you."

Anakin sneers. "You can  _ try _ . You wouldn't win against me." How dare she threaten him? She should be supporting him! He's going to take down the Sith Lord. Is that not what she wants? Could she be on the side of the Sith Lord?

"Maybe not in a direct fight but even you wouldn't survive in the vacuum of space. Not even if you were using the Dark side." She directs the end of her lightsaber at one of the walls.

Anakin gasps and reaches for...a lightsaber that he no longer has. He throws out a hand instead and gathers the Force to him. It's harder than usual, with all the turbulence, but he finds that the anger helps him will the Force to do his bidding. "You'll kill everyone on this ship just to stop me?"

"They'll be fine if the living quarters are sealed. They won't be able to go anywhere but they'll survive until another ship comes by. I won't let a Darksider with  _ your _ level of power be unleashed on the universe. So  _ rein it in, Anakin _ !" And he realizes that her eyes are desperate. "Remember what we just talked about. Remember Obi-Wan.  _ Choose _ him. Choose Padmé.  _ Don't _ choose the Dark."

"Obi-Wan is dead!" Anakin says and he wants to cry and scream and rage.

"You don't know that!"

"Palpatine said—"

"The Sith lie, Anakin! You can't trust him. Look for yourself. Use that bond you have with Obi-Wan."

"Anakin? Bant? What's going on?" Padmé’s voice breaks in. She sounds pained. "Did something happen to Obi-Wan?"

He looks over and his wife is at the doorway to the bridge, one hand gripping the frame tightly and the other clutching her stomach. "Padmé! Are you okay?" he asks, concern warring with anger for precedence in his head.

She winces and her fingers spasm over her belly. "I don't know. Everything was fine but then there was suddenly a lot of pain and the twins have been restless ever since." She sucks in a breath and hisses it out while she curls in around herself more.

Anakin hurries over and grasps her elbow, trying to support her weight. She cries out sharply when he touches her, though, and nearly falls. She pulls her arm out of his grip with a pained hiss and waves him off. "What? What happened?" he asks, panicking.

She shakes her head. "I don't know, the pain just got really bad when you touched me." She cries out again and leans against the doorway.

"It must be all the turbulence in the Force," Bant says, coming up next to him. "The twins must be feeling it through their connection." She rests one hand gently on Padmé’s and Anakin can distantly feel her sending out a wave of Force energy. Padmé’s breathing seems to get easier, and color starts returning to her face. "And it probably doesn't help that Anakin's emotions are a little wild, right now." Bant gives him a pointed look.

He takes the hint and tries to wrestle his emotions down, keep them from affecting Padmé and their children.

"What do you mean? Why is there turbulence? And what's going on with your emotions?" Padmé directs the last one to him.

"The Chancellor is a Sith," Anakin says, unable to keep the anger out of his voice. "He's ordered the clones to kill the Jedi. And Obi-Wan was on a ship with the 212th when the order came through."

Padmé gasps. "No! That can't - but surely, the clones wouldn't -"

Anakin shakes his head grimly. "They are. Somehow, he's got them attacking the Jedi. And I don't know if Obi-Wan is—" he stops, breath hitching.

"I'm sure he's fine, Anakin," Padmé says gently.

"I need to find him," Anakin says and suddenly, he knows that this is what he has to do. Forget about Palpatine or Sidious or whatever name he's going by now. He has to find Obi-Wan, make sure he's safe. They can take care of Palpatine together; he thinks Obi-Wan would be happy that he's for once waiting for him to take on an enemy.

"We should get Padmé to a medcenter," Bant says. "She needs to get checked out, make sure the twins are okay. What I did was just a temporary relief of pain. It's no substitute for professional medical care."

Before Anakin can respond—he doesn't even know how he would respond, really, because she's right, the twins and Padmé also need to be taken care of—Padmé says, "I'm fine. Let's go find Obi-Wan."

"Are you sure?" Anakin asks.

"What? No, I really have to insist—"

"I'm  _ fine _ ," Padmé repeats firmly over Bant's protest. "And the twins are fine. I can feel it. And we have Bant with us, anyway, so if anything does happen, she can take care of it."

"I'm not a healer!" Bant says. "I have  _ some _ healer  _ training _ but I can't just take care of any medical problem that comes up during pregnancy!" They both ignore her.

"You need to find Obi-Wan, so let's go," Padmé tells him.

Relief floods him. "Thank you," he says and hugs her tightly.

She allows it for a couple of seconds and then pushes him back gently, wincing. Her arm goes to her stomach again. "Oh, goddess, I think the pain's returning."

"Oh, Force," Bant groans.

"Take her to the medbay, Bant. And make sure she and the twins are okay. Do  _ whatever _ you have to do."

Bant purses her lips but nods curtly and levels a finger at him. "And you stay in the Light. Do whatever  _ you _ have to do to do that. Use that bond of yours with Obi-Wan. Trust in him. Choose him." He nods and she helps Padmé stand. As they slowly make their way out of the bridge, he can hear her muttering "Force save me from reckless idiots" and Padmé chuckling.

Then he sits in the pilot's seat, steels himself and sinks into the bond. The further out he goes, the more interference there seems to be—pressure from the Force waves pressing in on the bond and nearly obscuring it. He pushes back against those waves, removes any sense of  _ other _ that have intruded upon their connection. This is  _ his _ bond with Obi-Wan.

Progress feels slow, though. Too slow. And he can feel the frustration building, feeding the fire in him. He  _ needs _ to connect with Obi-Wan.  _ Now. _ He gives a mental snarl and gathers up the flames, builds it up to an inferno, and sends it racing down their bond.

Whenever it seems to be losing momentum, he feeds more of himself to it, draws upon his connection to the Force and channels that into the bond. He can feel it growing, widening. He focuses all of his attention on it, pours everything he has into it, into connecting with Obi-Wan.

Then he hears it:  _ Anakin? _ The question is faint and startled but the follow-up is louder and alarmed.  _ What's happened? You're very upset. _ Anakin is filled with such relief at the familiarity of the mental voice that he would have collapsed if he had not already been seated. Obi-Wan sounds and feels like he had before they parted, like they're in the same room again and standing right next to each other. But most importantly, he doesn't feel injured at all. He's very much alive and well. Anakin can't even form his thoughts into words, he's so thankful. So he just pushes his relief and his gratitude and his love at Obi-Wan. He feels Obi-Wan stumble and hears Cody ask, "General? Are you okay? What's this about General Skywalker?"

Anakin senses Obi-Wan gesturing at his commander to give him a moment and then Obi-Wan is  _ present _ in his mind with him. He feels him skimming through Anakin's last couple of hours.  _ And worried? You've been very worried? About me? Oh, I see. So you did get the message Artoo sent. Blast that droid. I wish he had waited until I could tell you how it all turned out. _

_ Palpatine made an announcement, too. Told the Republic that the Jedi were traitors and that he's ordered the clones to attack them. They're marching on the Temple! _ Anakin gathers himself enough to think.

_ I know. Mace told me. We've been a bit too preoccupied here to go help. _

_ Right, the ship! _

_ It's the  _ Tranquility _. Yoda and Luminara are on it. _

_ And one of them's injured. What's going on? _

_ The Chancellor _ — _ the Sith Lord _ — _ Force, he's the Sith Lord, how could we have been so gullible? _ — _ he's influencing the clones somehow. _

_ Force suggestion? _

_ Perhaps. But to do so on such a large scale.... _

_ He'd have to be very powerful. _

_ Yes. You were angry. Earlier. _

_ I thought he'd killed you. Had you killed. Betrayed the Jedi, the Republic. I wanted to kill him. _

_ You're controlling it now, though. _

_ I...yeah, I guess I am. _

_ Okay, good. _

"Sir?" Cody's voice breaks in.

Anakin blinks his eyes open and finds himself on the bridge of the  _ Negotiator _ . "Yes, Cody?" he asks. No, that's not—it's  _ Obi-Wan _ who's on the bridge and  _ Obi-Wan _ who had answered Cody. Anakin's still...he pulls his consciousness back far enough to verify that yes, he is still sitting in the pilot's seat of Padmé’s ship. But it still feels as though he's right next to Obi-Wan. Closer than that, even; it's as if he is one with Obi-Wan. He breathes out, and feels his nerves settling.

 

* * *

 

"Are you okay, sir? You went—" Cody waves his hand out to the side "—away, somewhere, after you said General Skywalker's name."

"Oh, I said that aloud? I hadn't meant to. But yes, I'm fine." He thinks quickly, mindful of Anakin still in his head. "We need to retreat. Something's not right."

"Sir? We have to shoot down that ship. We have to kill those Jedi," Cody says with another blank look.

"No. Stop." Obi-Wan stares intently into Cody's eyes, willing him to snap out of whatever this is. He darts a quick look at Gree but the other commander is just standing there; he hasn't reacted at all to Cody's proclamation that they're going to shoot his ship out of the sky. He turns back to Cody and the more pressing issue of making sure they don't fire on Yoda's ship. "Cody. I don't know how the Chancellor is doing this but you have to fight this. You can't shoot the  _ Tranquility _ . Your brothers are on that ship! Something isn't right. You would never turn on your brothers. And you've fought side by side with Jedi years. Don't you see that something is wrong?"

"It's our order," Cody says, though it sounds a little weak. Obi-Wan latches on to that.

"Well, I'm your direct commanding officer and I'm giving you a new order. All of you," he repeats louder, directing it to the bridge. "Do not fire on that ship." Scope freezes, looking like he's fighting with himself. The others appear tense. Cody is standing stiffly at his side but his eyes are a wide and imploring. Obi-Wan thinks quickly. This order seems to be affecting the clones a lot differently than the usual battle directives.

_ How? And how long have they had them? Had they always been trying to kill the Jedi? _ But no, it couldn't be. There had been plenty of opportunities for the clones to kill Jedi in the past several years; surely if that had always been their primary objective, they would have finished it by now. Obi-Wan regrets not looking more closely into the origin of the clones when they had first learned of their existence. But clearly, they had been meant to be the Jedi Order's demise, not their allies.

What should he do? He can take a shuttle and leave; he doesn't think they'll stop him. But he can't leave his men. Whatever Sidious had done to them, he can't just leave them like this. Anakin agrees silently.

He takes a breath and says firmly, "Terminate the connection with  _ Tranquility _ ." Once that's done, he adds, "Set a course for...."

_ Gyndine _ , Anakin thinks.  _ That's about halfway between us. We can rendezvous there. _

"...Gyndine. We're leaving." He spares a thought for Yoda and Luminara but he's confident that they will be fine. He has to get his troops away from this situation and find out how to fix whatever is happening to them, to all the clones.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Besides Gree and Cody, I made up the rest of the clone names. Trik got his name because he can make seemingly impossible "trick" shots. Scope is the unit's best sniper. Lin is from linguist; he's their communications officer because he's really good with languages. He and Obi-Wan will sometimes get into conversations in obscure languages while the rest of the battalion are watching on in bemusement. Graf is from cartographer (thanks, Dendral!) and he's their navigator.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroes do some deliberating and there's an unexpected delivery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I...wow, I did not expect to be taking this long to update the fic. Thank you for waiting so patiently for this and hopefully you'll enjoy this next segment! This part was beta'd by [Dendral](http://tcf-dendral.tumblr.com), who is an awesome friend and collaborator and artist and writer.
> 
> (I'm also going back to make some minor edits, such as correcting Padmé's name so that it's got the right é and cleaning up my chapter notes.)

"Sir?" Cody says when the door to the meditation room slides open to admit him. "You requested to speak with me?"

Obi- Wan opens his eyes but doesn't get up from the meditation mat. "Yes. Is the ship on course?"

"Yes, sir. We should be arriving in about twenty-four standard hours."

"Good. Please sit, Cody. We need to talk." In his head, Anakin is restless. He feels it now as if he himself is restless; the bond seems to have changed yet again, though Anakin denies doing anything to it deliberately. Part of him feels the need to do something, anything. But he can identify that as being Anakin. _Not yet,_ he cautions. _We need more information, first._

_I know. I just don't like waiting._

_Yes, I know._

Cody sits down in front of him, legs bent and crossed under each other, awkward in the armor that he's wearing. He looks guarded and tense.

"Do you trust me?" he asks and he can see that the question throws his commander off.

"Of course, sir." Cody says it without any hesitation.

"Would you trust me even I was still a Jedi?"

Now, Cody pauses, brows furrowed. "I don't...I don't know."

Obi-Wan purses his lips. "Did you trust me before?"

Cody frowns. "Yes, I did."

"So what changed?"

"I don't know, sir."

Obi-Wan bites back a frustrated sigh. He's not getting any further now than he had on the bridge, before he had decided to retire to meditate. "But you do trust me now."

Cody nods.

"Then will you trust me when I tell you that something is wrong? That you and your brothers had not wanted to kill Jedi before Order 66 was issued and that whatever that Order was, it drastically changed you and made you turn on your friends and allies?"

"I don't...." Cody trails off and stares searchingly at him, as if trying to determine if Obi-Wan is being truthful or not. Obi-Wan meets his gaze and holds it, wills his commander to believe him. "May I speak freely, General?" At Obi-Wan's nod, he continues, "It doesn't feel to me that anything is different. You're still my General and the way I feel towards you is the way I remember always feeling towards you. But when I think of the other Jedi Generals, it's clear to me what we have to do. We have to kill them. Those are our orders. And they're a danger to all of us."

Obi-Wan frowns and shakes his head sharply.

Cody stops. Then he sighs. "You've led us for years and you haven't led us astray yet so if you say there's something wrong, I'll trust that you're seeing something that I don't."

Obi-Wan lets out a breath he hadn't been aware of holding. "Thank you, Cody."

Cody shrugs. "It's not any different from any of the other times you've sensed something with that Force of yours that the rest of us couldn't. Except that now it contradicts a direct order from the Supreme Commander. Sir, when you had decided to leave the Jedi and the army, were you planning on deserting to the Separatists? Is that what this is?"

"No, Cody, it isn't. I had hoped that the war would end and the two factions be reunited but I had no plans to join the enemy. But the Chancellor isn't who we had thought he was. He's a Sith. He needs to be taken down before he does more damage."

"He's still the Chancellor, though."

"And that makes him the Supreme Commander of the army." It's not a question but Cody nods in confirmation anyway. Obi-Wan holds back a sigh and he can feel Anakin wanting to lash out at Palpatine, at Cody, at all of the clones who make up the army they'd been leading into battle for the past couple of years. "Well, Cody, I did intend to stay in the army until after this mission but I can't follow a Sith Lord's orders and he can't be left in power. He'll destroy everything the Republic has worked to build. He's already made a mockery of democracy, bankrupted the Republic, and led to the ruins of multiple planets with this war."

"You're talking about a rebellion. A coup."

"Not just yet," Obi-Wan says cautiously. He worries that it will come to that but he doesn't know if the Republic will survive such a conflict. "For now, we need information. We need to find out what he's done to the army and try to correct it. Cody, may I check if there was any Force suggestion imprinted onto you with that Order?"

"What would I need to do for that, sir?"

"Nothing. Just sit there and breathe and open your mind to me. I'm going to meditate and reach out towards you with the Force. You likely won't feel anything."

Cody nods and sits back, watching him stoically.

Obi-Wan closes his eyes and sinks into a light meditative state. He can still feel the turbulence in the Force but he uses his bond with Anakin to anchor himself. The Force feels...much stronger to him now. He hasn't tried yet but he knows instinctively that he can access more of it now, more than he would ever need, more than anyone would ever need, more than he knows what to do with. _Is this what it always feels like to you?_ he'd asked earlier.

 _Like what?_ Anakin had responded but even as he had done so, Obi-Wan had seen in his memories that the answer was 'yes.'

He taps into some of that now—just a little, and only after firming up his mental discipline so he doesn't lose control over it—and spins it out towards Cody. He doesn't quite know what he's looking for but he hopes that if there's some kind of Force command or suggestion, it would resonate within the Force. He's never been on this end of it before and hasn't ever needed to examine the beings on whom he'd used Force suggestions.

He spends quite a few minutes on the exercise but he doesn't find anything out of place and he can feel himself—or Anakin, rather—getting anxious. He finally pulls both of their consciousnesses back and sighs.

When he opens his eyes, Cody arches a brow at him expectantly. "Nothing that I can tell," he answers the unspoken question. "But I'm not a healer, so perhaps I'm just not looking in the right places. Perhaps when we rendezvous with Anakin, we can look again." He doubts that it would change anything even if the two of them are physically in the same room, though. It already feels like Anakin is in the room with him.

"Sir, about General Skywalker..." Cody starts hesitantly.

"Yes? What about him?"

"I know that you're close, but if he's a Jedi—"

Obi-Wan holds a hand up. "Cody, do you think that I would have left the Order if Anakin was still in it?"

"I suppose not, sir."

"Right. Because _someone_ has to watch over him and make sure he doesn't get himself killed over all those reckless stunts of his."

 _Was that me talking again? Because I'm pretty sure that applies to you more than to me,_ Anakin thinks with some humor. He's relieved that Anakin's able to joke again.

_Hush, my heart._

The reflexive wave of affection nearly makes him gasp out loud.

"So, he's not a Jedi anymore either, then?" Cody asks.

"No, he's not."

Cody looks relieved. "Okay. That's good. I'll inform the others."

"Yes, please do that. I don't want anyone shooting at his ship when he approaches."

Cody nods and then excuses himself back to his duties.

Obi-Wan sinks back into a meditative trance, only this time he dives into his bond with Anakin and lets his awareness of his own body and surroundings fade until Anakin's awareness of _his_ body sitting in the pilot's seat dominates. Anakin opens his eyes and Obi-Wan sees that Captain Typho has taken the co-pilot's seat and is fiddling with the controls on the navigation panel. Anakin's surprise rings through their bond.

"Captain Typho? When did you get in? What are you doing?"

"An hour ago. You looked like you were sleeping so I didn't want to disturb you. I'm just checking the course you plotted. Padmé told me there's been a change in plans?"

Anakin nods. "Yeah, something's happened with the army and the Jedi—"

"I saw the HoloNews," Typho says.

"—so we're going to meet up with Obi-Wan instead of going to Naboo."

"Okay."

 _You should go check on Padmé,_ Obi-Wan prompts. He suspects that part of Anakin's anxiety is that he doesn't know how his wife and children are doing.

_But when I got near her last time, it hurt the kids._

_I'll help you keep your frustrations from spilling out._

_Okay,_ Anakin agrees. "I'm going to check on Padmé," he tells Typho, who waves him off with an absent goodbye.

 

* * *

 

When Anakin enters the small medbay, Padmé's lying on the bed and Bant is in a meditative position on a floor cushion next to her. Padmé looks like she's comfortable and not in pain any longer; Bant looks and feels serene in the Force.

"How are you?" Anakin asks, walking up to the bed slowly. Padmé doesn't wince or cringe so he takes it as a good sign.

"Better," she says with a smile. "Bant did...something and it helped a lot."

"And even though I'm—" Anakin waves his hand to encompass the closing gap between them. Padmé shakes her head and Anakin sighs in relief. He picks up her hand and squeezes it tightly, then leans over and brushes a kiss against her lips. "I'm so glad," he mutters against them, unwilling to pull completely away just yet.

 _How's Bant?_ Obi-Wan asks with a spike of anxiety.

"I'm fine," Bant replies from the floor.

Anakin turns, startled. "You heard that?"

"I'm not in that deep of a meditation. I can talk. Did you connect with Obi-Wan? Is he okay?"

"But I didn't say that out loud. I don't think so, anyway. Obi-Wan had been thinking that question at me."

"Ani, you did say that out loud. Are you okay?" Padmé sounds concerned and she grasps his elbow with her other hand.

"Obi-Wan...thought the question...and you spoke it...without realizing it," Bant repeats slowly.

Anakin nods and then realizes that she can't see him since her eyes are still closed so he says, "Yes."

Bant sighs. "I'll have to look into that later. I can only handle one Force bond crisis at a time."

"Alright," Anakin agrees with a small smile. Then, "Wait, what Force bond crisis?"

"The bond the twins had with Padmé. They were using it to access the Force, remember? But since Padmé herself isn't Force-sensitive, the bond was slowly draining her of her life."

" _What?_ " Anakin screeches. He spins around to check on his wife but she looks the same as she had a couple of a seconds ago. "But what about all the other women who've given birth to Force-sensitive children? I thought you said they were fine!"

"As far as we know, they were. Maybe it's that they're twins, so the drain is doubled. Maybe it's that they're much stronger than any other child has been—except possibly you, but your conception was unusual so we can't use it as a basis for comparison. Maybe it would have been fine and Padmé would have survived the pregnancy even with the slow Force drain if it weren't for the Force turbulence causing increased stress on the twins. There's a lot of factors here that weren't present in the other documented deliveries. It's hard to say which one in particular was the one that tipped the scales."

"Can you stop it?" he asks frantically.

"I already did," Bant answers calmly. "I re-wove their bond with Padmé so that it goes to me, now. Their bond with each other, I didn't touch."

"So, they're now...bonded...to you? Instead of Padmé?"

"Yes. And I'm using my shields to protect them from the wildness within the Force."

"That is fascinating," Anakin's voice says, and he has a moment of disjointedness, because that felt like Obi-Wan speaking but how is that possible? The intonation had certainly sounded more like Obi-Wan's than his own, though. And that's not a sentiment that he would normally have.

Bant gives a tiny frown. "Obi-Wan? Is that you?" Before Anakin (or Obi-Wan) has a chance to respond, she continues, "If that is you, you had better pull back a bit before you lose yourself in Anakin completely."

There's a _shift_ and then Anakin's aware of himself in his own body and Obi-Wan's presence in his mind as a separate entity. He hadn't even realized that that hadn’t been the case earlier.

 _Tell Bant to stay on the shuttle when you dock on the_ Negotiator _. The clones have some kind of directive to kill Jedi,_ Obi-Wan thinks at him.

"I heard that," Bant says. "You're still speaking through Anakin, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan feels flustered and he pulls back further. Anakin's not liking the separation in this mental landscape that's supposed to be their haven; he has a flash of irritation with Bant but that's quickly countered by Obi-Wan's fondness for her.

"Anyway, I can't stay on the shuttle," Bant continues. "Padmé needs to go to the medbay of the _Negotiator_ and I need to stay near her to maintain the connection with the twins. They need to get checked out and the facilities on the destroyer are more comprehensive and fully stocked than this one. I've stabilized her and the babies for now but I'm no substitute for a professional medic. And what about Anakin? The clones won't attack him?"

Anakin frowns. He hadn't thought about that. But, _No, they won't. Cody knows you've left the Order so you should be fine,_ Obi-Wan tells him. Anakin relays the answer to Bant and Padmé, who's listening attentively.

"So as long as you're not a Jedi, you're safe?”

 _After speaking with Cody, that’s my working theory_ , Obi-Wan thinks. Anakin repeats that out loud.

“Then the solution is simple. I'll leave the Order."

"Can you just do that?" Anakin asks.

Bant snorts. "Isn't that what you and Obi-Wan did?"

"He told the Council we were leaving, though."

"Somehow, I doubt that the clones will be able to locate a Council member to verify my story. But if that doesn't work, you can just put a set of cuffs on me and tell them you've taken me prisoner and are making me care for Padmé and the twins."

 _It might work,_ Obi-Wan muses. _Cody didn’t give me any trouble about you no longer being a Jedi. I'll talk with him about Bant. You should try to get some rest._ He must sense Anakin's hesitancy because he adds, _Really, Anakin. Sleep. I'll monitor the Force for any further disturbances and later we can switch._

 _Alright,_ Anakin reluctantly agrees. He starts to pull away from their connection when he suddenly remembers something. Or someone, rather. _"Ahsoka!"_ he says both out loud and mentally.

"What?" Padmé asks, startled.

 _What?_ Obi-Wan asks.

"I have to make sure she's okay!" Anakin says. "She might not even know she's in danger!" _Will you help me?_ he asks Obi-Wan.

_Of course. But she's most likely fine. You would have felt the backlash of the bond breaking if she wasn't._

_Very reassuring, my starbird. Thanks. But what if she's been captured?_ Anakin clenches his hands into fists. He spins around and makes for the door. Then he stops. She's not on this ship. She's not where this ship is headed, and they can't divert the ship to look for her.

_I'm sure she's more than skilled enough to evade that, even if she doesn't know what's going on. After all, she had an excellent Master._

_Not excellent enough to keep her from leaving._

_Anakin_ _—_ Obi-Wan feels like he's distressed, though for what reason, Anakin doesn't know.

 _I_ _—_ _not now, okay? I just need to make sure she's okay._

Obi-Wan gives a mental sigh but also a wave of warmth. _Very well. Let's just focus on your bond with her and follow it to her._

 _Okay._ Anakin gathers the Force in his mind and prepares to cut through the miasma again, this time for his former Padawan.

"Do you want me to call her?" Padmé asks suddenly, breaking his concentration.

"What?" he says, head whipping around to stare at his wife. He can feel Obi-Wan echoing his question.

Padmé furrows her brows and shifts on the bed. "Do you want me to call her?" she repeats patiently.

"You...know how to connect with her? You've been in contact with her?" Anakin can't help it; he's gaping.

"Of course," she says easily. "I gave her a communicator when she left. And some supplies, including funds. She didn't have a single credit to her name. How would she have paid for anything?"

"I—but you never said anything! And _she_ didn't say anything when we saw her on Mandalore!"

"You were in such a bad space after she left, Ani, I thought it would do more harm than good to bring her up. We don't talk often. Just every once in awhile, she sends me a message to let me know how she's doing. Or to ask if I have any contacts in certain places." Padmé shrugs one shoulder and holds up her personal communicator. "So should I call her?"

" _Yes_ ." Anakin can feel his heart rate picking up with the anxiety. What if Ahsoka doesn't answer? What if she _can't_ answer? What if she—

The call connects and a small holoprojection of Ahsoka forms over the communicator.

"Padmé?" Ahsoka's voice asks, trepidation clear.

"Snips!" Anakin bursts out.

"Skyguy?" Ahsoka sounds greatly relieved.

Padmé wordlessly turns the communicator so that the camera receiver faces Anakin.

"Ahsoka, you're okay. Thank the Force!" Anakin feels a double wave of relief at this—his and Obi-Wan's. Obi-Wan then settles into a quiet steady presence hovering right next to him, almost a part of him.

"Yeah, of course I am. What's going on? Are you okay? There's been a lot of turbulence in the Force."

"Where are you?"

"Still on Mandalore, with Rex and the others. We're about to lure Maul into a trap. Where are _you_?" Ahsoka crosses her arms.

"You have to get out of there!"

Ahsoka's image rears back in surprise. "What? Why?"

"Palpatine is—he's a Sith," Anakin says and it feels surreal to say it out loud. How could this be? He's known the Chancellor for years; this revelation doesn't match with anything he remembers of him. When had he turned? Had he always been Force sensitive? He must have been, but then how had Anakin not noticed?

" _What?_ " Ahsoka yelps.

Anakin grimaces. "Yeah, he revealed himself to Obi-Wan and tried to get the troops to kill him. Then he sent out a news release saying that the Jedi betrayed the Republic."

"Oh, Force! Is Master Obi-Wan okay?"

"He's fine. He's just glad you're okay. We both are."

Ahsoka frowns. "Is he there? I don't see him. Where are you?"

"No, he's—we reopened our bond. I was on the way to Naboo, he was going to meet us there. It's a long story. Just—you have to get off of Mandalore. It's not safe. Meet us at Gyndine."

"I can't leave yet. We're so close to getting Maul."

"Snips, come on. Maul can wait."

" _Maul can wait?_ " she says incredulously. "No, he can't. And if the Chancellor's the Sith Lord, then it's more important than ever that we capture Maul. We need information from him."

 _She's right, Anakin._ Obi-Wan's mental voice chimes in, sounding strained and exhausted.

Anakin sighs heavily. "Are Rex and the others acting weird at all? Just about all the troopers have turned on the Jedi."

Ahsoka looks off to the side for a second and then turns back with a shrug. "I don't think so. They haven't pulled any blasters on me yet, anyway."

 _Maybe they remember that she's no longer a Jedi,_ Obi-Wan offers.

Anakin hopes that's truly the case and that that's enough to protect her. "Alright," he says out loud. "Wrap things up over there as quickly as you can. Then call me and we'll figure out a rendezvous point. We're not going to be staying around Gyndine long."

Ahsoka nods firmly. "You got it, Skyguy."

"And Ahsoka? Be careful."

"I will. See you soon." Then the projection winks out.

 

* * *

 

Obi-Wan stands between Cody and Artoo as the Nubian royal starship finishes cycling through its landing procedure. The white armor is stiffer than he remembers but it fits him well enough. He feels vulnerable without his lightsaber but knowing that Artoo is holding both his and Anakin’s and will get them into their hands if they need them helps.

Anakin is now physically so close and vibrating with so much anticipatory tension that Obi-Wan feels like he himself is both standing in the hangar bay of the _Negotiator_ and bouncing in place by the boarding doors of the Nubian. He reinforces just enough of the boundaries between them that he's not longer experiencing that particular brand of vertigo, though even those are tenuous.

As soon as the doors whoosh open and the ramp slides out, Anakin hurdles down it. He's wearing, Obi-Wan is amused to note, a brown and blue Royal Naboo Security uniform. Captain Typho must have had an extra set in his bags; they're nearly a perfect fit. He has a slim blaster holstered on his belt.

Obi-Wan braces for impact but Anakin stops just short of where he is and grabs his arms, squeezing painfully tight. His eyes frantically scan Obi-Wan head to toe and his thoughts swirl around chaotically, circling in an endless loop of _Are you okay? You're okay. Are you okay? Yeah, you're okay._

"Anakin," Obi-Wan murmurs and that seems to break the cycle. Anakin wraps both arms around him and buries his nose in Obi-Wan's hair.

"You're okay," Anakin breathes and even through the armor he's wearing, Obi-Wan can feel the other’s heart slowing back down and the tension leaving his body.

Obi-Wan returns Anakin's embrace and indulges in a squeeze of his own, reveling in the solidness of the body in his arms. It's one thing to know that Anakin was okay because he had been out of danger, but another to be holding the proof of that. The unfamiliar mix of leather and Anakin throws him off but none of that matters compared to the overwhelming Force presence that he has to struggle not to meld into.

 _I'm glad to see that Cody's managed to get you into armor again,_ Anakin sends across their wide-open bond.

 _Yes, he did finally prevail._ Obi-Wan is quite sure that he can still feel his commander's smug satisfaction if he focuses. _And you? Masquerading as Captain Typho?_

_Well, you did say to discard the Jedi robes._

_Mm, yes. It seems that some reminders of the Jedi and the Order can trigger the clones into trying to kill us._

There's a spike of alarm from Anakin and the arms around his back tighten even more. _What? Did they try to kill you again? You never said_ _—_ _who was it? I'll kill them._

_No, don't. It was fine. Some of them...whatever this Order 66 was, they were able to overcome it initially but over time, some have succumbed to it. Especially when they saw any Jedi accouterments. We've given them something to sedate them for the time being. The only good thing about it is that it's convinced Cody more than anything I could have said that Palpatine's done something to them. He's adamant that no one in the 212th, if they were in their right minds, would attack me._

Artoo suddenly lets out a series of impatient beeps and chirps and Cody takes that moment to clear his throat pointedly.

Obi-Wan blushes and releases Anakin. Anakin slowly lets go as well but doesn't separate any further than that, so when Obi-Wan turns to look questioningly at Cody, he can still feel Anakin's breath on his ear. Such physical closeness from most others would be unnerving but it feels natural here.

"Hi, Artoo. How have you been?" Anakin asks. Artoo seems to take that as a request for a full report because he launches into a lengthy diatribe that, Obi-Wan is amused to note, sounds particularly aggrieved.

"Sir, I thought you hadn't wanted to stay too long in this system," Cody reminds him.

"Quite right, Cody. We don't know how safe this area is and how long we can remain undetected. Anakin, where are the others? Does Padmé need assistance with unloading anything?"

Anakin shakes his head, curls tickling Obi-Wan's cheek as he does so. "No, they're just waiting for my cue that it's safe," he answers over Artoo's still-running binary. Obi-Wan nods approvingly and Anakin reaches up to touch an earbud. "Just a second, Artoo. All clear," he says. Then he gestures for Artoo to continue.

_What in the Sith hells is he saying? Is he recounting every minute he's been away from you?_

Anakin feels amused. _Just about. He says it's exhausting watching over you, that you have less self-preservation than I do, that you're just as reckless as Padmé, and that if it wasn't for him, you'd all be dead by now._

 _Well, now, that's a little_ _—_

_Accurate?_

Obi-Wan huffs. _Yes, fine, he's right. Tell him he's right and that I appreciate what he's done and that I'm sorry I can't communicate with him._

Anakin whistles and chirps that to Artoo as the rest of the party appear on the ramp, with Captain Typho in the lead, Padme and C3PO in the middle, and Bant and Motee bringing up the rear in matching Naboo royal handmaiden robes. They proceed with an air of wariness, poised to flee or duck if necessary. Though they're ostensibly encircling Padmé, Obi-Wan can see how each of them are angling themselves to disrupt any sightlines to Bant and he feels a rush of gratitude for this group of people who only know Bant as a friend of Obi-Wan's but who are willing to stand between her and clones with a directive to kill all Jedi.

Obi-Wan scans the bay surreptitiously; there are a couple of soldiers posted at regular intervals along the overhanging walkway but though they tense at Bant's appearance, no one draws a blaster. Obi-Wan sighs in relief.

If Cody notices, he doesn't mention it. "Senator, do you need to go to the medbay?" he asks instead.

"Yes," Bant says at the same time that Padmé shakes her head.

"I feel fine. We can't afford to waste any time. We need to start planning our next steps," Padmé says firmly.

"Verifying your health isn't a waste of time," Bant counters.

Padmé opens her mouth and Obi-Wan gets the sense that this is an argument they've had a couple of times already. Cody looks at him with just the slightest widening of his eyes.

"Why don't we adjourn to the Situation Room?" he proposes. "Flims can meet us there and you may use the smaller connecting conference room for an evaluation. The medbay is quite removed from the bridge and I can understand that you would rather be at the strategy session, Padmé."

"That will be acceptable, thank you, Obi-Wan. I'd like to have an open line into the session while I'm in the other room."

"Of course," Obi-Wan assents.

 

* * *

 

"We can't leave him in power," Padmé announces the moment the doors to the Situation Room close behind them. She goes to the head of the conference table and slaps her hand down on it. "I watched his press release. He's announced that the Republic is now an Empire, and declared himself the Emperor. He's destroying everything the Republic stood for."

"You're talking about a rebellion. A coup," Cody says. He eyes Obi-Wan with a slight twinkle in his eye while Anakin's herding him to a place on Padmé's right. Anakin then stands between them, arm brushing against Obi-Wan's and eyes on his wife. Bant takes up a position to Padmé's left, looking thoughtful.

"Yes," Padmé affirms. "We have to fight back. We can't just idly accept this transition from a democracy to a fascist government. We need to gather all those who oppose him and—"

"But how?" Anakin asks, bewildered.

"The Delegation of 2000. All of the systems who signed that petition stood against Palpatine's increasing powers. We can contact them, see how many are still willing to stand against him."

"He's a Sith, they'll never be able to win against him alone,” Obi-Wan counters. “We need to find the rest of the Jedi. The Jedi are trained to defeat Sith."

"And yet they weren't able to detect one who was right in front of them, manipulating everyone," Padmé says, eyes flashing.

Anakin feels the squeezing pain of Obi-Wan's heart clenching as if it was his own, then the rebound rush of anger bundled up with grief and a heavy sense of loss. He widens his eyes at Padmé. What is she saying? He'd thought she was a supporter of the Jedi.

"Well, pardon me, Senator," Obi-Wan says lowly, "but the Jedi were spread a little thinly the past couple of years fighting and dying in this _blasted_ war and trying to hold the Republic together! We have been out on the front lines every day, side by side with the soldiers, while the citizens of the Republic sat at home, safe and comfortable and largely unaffected by this war. Which we accepted as part of our role in the Republic. But it was one we didn't train for and one that we weren't prepared for and one that should _not_ have been placed on our shoulders.” He grips the edge of the table tightly enough that his knuckles whiten. His voice rises as he says, “We've had to raise our younglings to _expect_ to be deployed to battlefields, to know that there's a possibility they will die too soon. We've had to _deploy_ our younglings to active battlefields when they should have been serving on missions about humanitarian aid and peace talks."

"I did try to put an end to this war," Padmé interjects hotly.

"We've hardly had time to _breathe_ ," Obi-Wan barrels on, "let alone sense that the Chancellor, the one who should have been the most trusted person in the Republic, was actually a Sith in hiding. And accumulating more and more power that the Senate _willingly turned over to him_. He didn't take over the Republic because of his Sith abilities. He used those abilities to attack the Jedi, to order the death of thousands, to rid himself of the only group who could have killed him. But the government was already his; the public was already his.”

Obi-Wan laughs harshly, crossing his arms over his chest. “All this time, we’ve been wondering why public opinion was so against us. And it’s clear now that it must have been because _he_ was manipulating them. Even had the Jedi learned that he was a Sith before this, we would have been hard pressed to remove him from office peacefully or to convince the public of the truth."

 _Obi-Wan_ , Anakin thinks and finds himself in the unfamiliar position of trying to steady the storm of emotions in his starbird. He rests his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder, feeling the minutest of tremors in the muscles. He's hit suddenly with the images and the fading presences of several Jedi, some he knew well and others he only knew in passing — Jocasta Nu; Cin Drallig; Ki-Adi Mundi; Depa Billaba. _Obi-Wan, what is this? What are you doing?_

 _I'm monitoring the Jedi to see who's passed into the Force._ Obi-Wan sounds exhausted, even in his thoughts.

"Are you implying that the Senate would have kept him in office even knowing that he was this Sith?" Padmé asks, affronted.

"You've worked with them much more than I have. Are you saying that they wouldn't have? That there would have been enough Senators willing to stand up against him to vote him out? _Especially_ if they knew what he was capable of?" Obi-Wan says archly.

 _But why?_ Anakin asks, only paying half a mind to the verbal conversation going on around him.

_Because I have to. Leave it be, Anakin._

Padmé pauses. She purses her lips unhappily. "Not enough of them," she says finally, deflating. "I'm sorry, Obi-Wan. I shouldn't have said that about the Jedi. I'm sorry for your loss."

Obi-Wan bows his head. "Thank you, Padmé." He looks back up again and his eyes are clear, determined. "While I don't disagree with you on Palpatine, I think our first priority has to be figuring out what he's done to the GAR. The clones aren't themselves anymore and while he's got them under his control, he's got a massive army he can point at any of his enemies who will obey him without question and even against their will. We'll never be able to get close enough to him to neutralize him while they're around."

Cody nods grimly. "Whatever he's done to us, we have to undo. I won't leave my brothers to his mercy."

"How do you think he's controlling all of them?" Bant asks, leaning forward in interest. Her scales are pale, the only indication that maintaining the bond with the twins is causing a strain on her.

"I don't know, sir."

"I've checked them for signs of Force suggestion but I didn't find anything," Obi-Wan adds. "Not even in the ones who were actively trying to kill me."

Bant frowns thoughtfully. "Perhaps a latent protocol to be activated by a set of trigger words? You said that he gave them an order?"

"Yes," Obi-Wan says, eyes sliding over to Cody. He refrains from repeating the exact order, but Anakin remembers it from the video that Artoo had sent to them.

"If it is a protocol, it isn't one that any of us had known about," Cody says with a shake of his head.

"What about medical exams? Did those reveal anything? Could it be a virus or a parasite? Like that one on Geonosis that you encountered, Obi-Wan."

"The one that would take over the host and control their actions," Obi-Wan says. "Yes, we did think of that. But imaging didn't reveal any parasitic lesions in their brains and their blood tests were normal."

"And it would be unlikely that the entire army could have been infected." Bant hums.

Anakin snaps his fingers as a memory suddenly occurs to him. “The chips!”

“What?” Obi-Wan asks, sounding startled.

“The inhibitor chips,” Anakin says. He struggles to recall the details of the incident in question. “When Tup shot Tiplar, it was because of something to do with his inhibitor chip.”

“Inhibitor chip?” Cody asks sharply. “What’s that?”

Anakin pinches the bridge of his nose, and tries to recreate that time he had been in the Chancellor’s office being debriefed on the situation along with Shaak Ti, Yoda, and Mace. The memory feels so distant, though, like there’s a haze over it. “It’s a….” He grasps for the explanation that they had been given at the time, and says slowly, “an...it’s something implanted into all the clones that’s...meant to make them less aggressive.” He shakes his head. Why can’t he remember? It had seemed like such an important revelation at the time. “Tup’s chip had malfunctioned or decayed. Then Fives had his removed and his behavior became erratic. The Chancellor said he had his doctors examine both bodies and they said it was because of a rare parasitic infection that Tup’s chip wasn’t working properly. They developed a vaccine for the clones and that was the end of the matter.”

“The Chancellor said this?” Obi-Wan asks, and Anakin can feel the spike of alarm in him.

“Yes. You didn’t hear about this?”

“Mace and Yoda reported back to the Council that the problem was resolved but that the details were classified because they could pose a safety risk to the Jedi.”

“Oh.”

“But now that we know what the Chancellor had been hiding,” Bant says, “we know that he was most likely lying about the chips.”

“And if a malfunction had led to Tup attacking Tiplar, then perhaps a malfunction is what’s causing them to attack Jedi now,” Obi-Wan rubs a hand against his chin slowly.

“But all them of them malfunctioning at once? How could that be possible?” Bant asks, eyes narrowed. “No infection could hit them all at the same time, especially when they are scattered around the galaxy.”

Obi-Wan hums and taps the fingers of one hand against his other arm. “No, not an infection. Perhaps a timed countdown like a bomb? But then how did the Chancellor know when it would go off? Perhaps a set of orders? Given simultaneously to all the clones. With the phrase acting like a—”

“—prompt for an executable line of code in a computer script,” Anakin finishes. “It triggers an action, like how certain actions can be programmed for a droid to carry out in reaction to a stimulus.”

“But we’re not droids, General,” Cody protests. “We don’t have lines of code controlling our behavior.”

“No, _you_ don’t. But these chips might,” Obi-Wan says. “Perhaps when the order is given, something happens to the chip that in turn affects your thinking.”

“Or perhaps just the actions?” Bant asks. “It seems that their thinking is okay.”

“No, not all of us,” Cody says with a shake of his head.

“Cody’s right. There’s more to it. The clones who tried to attack me later, they seemed frightened of me. And full of rage.”

Bant sighs. "We can speculate all we want about this but there’s only one place that will have the answers we need.”

“Kamino,” Anakin says, almost in a growl. He remembers suddenly, the _need_ to get answers about Tup and Fives, the drive to learn the truth. It had somehow been assuaged by the Chancellor’s words and then later buried under all the missions that had come up after. But perhaps he’ll be able to find out what had really happened to his troops now.

"The Kaminoans won't cooperate with an investigation," Padmé says with a shake of her head. "They were some of Palpatine's staunchest supporters. Still are, perhaps."

Obi-Wan’s eyes glint. "Then we'll have to disguise ourselves and infiltrate the facility to conduct a more...covert investigation."

"Disguise ourselves as....?" Anakin trails off with the feeling that he’s not going to like the answer.

"Us, of course," Cody says with a grin. "General Kenobi's already wearing the armor. With the helmet on, no one would be able to tell he's not one of us."

Anakin frowns. "What about me? Your armor wouldn't fit me that well."

Cody scrutinizes him. "I'm sure we can find something."

"Really?" Anakin asks skeptically. "Are there clones who are taller than the average?"

"...no, not really, sir." Cody shrugs. "Perhaps you can wait on the ship while General Kenobi and I go."

"Absolutely not. I'm not letting Obi-Wan go in there without me!" Anakin squawks.

"Anakin—" Obi-Wan starts.

"Oh dear," Bant says at the same time that Padmé gasps. "They're coming."

"What?" Anakin whips his head around to check the monitors. His hand drops from Obi-Wan’s shoulder. "Who?"

"Have we been discovered?" Obi-Wan demands, also turning to look at the monitors. Cody goes to the console and brings up a diagnostic of the ships’ systems. "But the proximity alert's silent."

"No, it's not that," Padmé wheezes, clutching her belly and moaning. Bant's moved to place a hand at her back. "I've just gone into labor."

" _What?_ " Anakin shouts. "But it's, it's too early! Kriff, we're not ready. You haven't even had your medical yet."

Padmé grimaces. "Well, the babies are coming regardless."

Anakin's knees buckle as he hears Padmé scream. His hands clench the edge of the table and barely keep him from falling.

But no, Padmé’'s—

He shakes his head and the screaming fades.

"Flims, where are you?" Cody's voice filters in to his attention. It's soft; he can barely make it out over the thundering in his ears that's replaced Padmé's screams.

He looks over at Padmé and her face is overlaid with an all-too-familiar image of her in agony.

"No," he says; begs.

He blinks and that's gone, and he can see her as she really is—a little uncomfortable, but not in excessive pain. Not dying.

"I'm nearly there," someone says. It's got the distant and slightly muted tone of a communicator transmission. “What’s happening?”

"Anakin?" Obi-Wan's voice sounds urgent, worried. A hand grasps his elbow.

Anakin's bowed over the table, staring down at the blood on his hands, at the pool of blood spreading over the glass surface. Almost against his will, his eyes move up and he's watching Padmé laying on a bed, face red with exertion and pain, hair dampened with sweat. He realizes that the voice chanting "No, no, no, please" is coming from him.

"We're losing her," a droid says to his right.

Doors whoosh open to his left. "By the grace of Shaak Ti!" someone curses.

A baby cries.

Two.

"No!" he shouts.

Padmé screams. But it's not—it's not the Padmé in front of him.

He looks to his right, to where the droid—no, to where Padmé is. She's leaning heavily against Bant, eyes squeezed shut, gulping down air. Motee, who up until this point had been standing in the shadows, is supporting her on her other side.

Bant throws a hand out at him like she's warding him off.

Someone steps in between them—a clone, with a red cross on his shoulder. It must be the medic. He struggles to remember the name, gives it up as a lost cause. "We have to get her to the medbay," he says and Anakin sees a flash of white walls, bright lights.

"No! Don't. She'll die there!" he screams. Something cracks.

Bant cringes and pales. She stumbles, but manages to keep her feet under her. She snaps something at Obi-Wan; Anakin can't make out what.

"Go!" Obi-Wan responds. "I'll take care of this."

They hurry out of the room. Anakin makes to follow them—they can't take Padmé, she's going to die, he has to stop them—

"Anakin." Suddenly, Obi-Wan is in front of him. Or maybe he's always been in front of him. He becomes aware of two hands gripping his shoulders tightly.

"Anakin, look at me," Obi-Wan repeats. But Anakin's already looking at him. Isn't he? He blinks, forces his eyes to focus on Obi-Wan's intense blue ones. He feels like he's swaying on his feet. The rest of the room behind Obi-Wan starts to blur.

"Anakin, stay with me. Focus on me. Breathe with me. Okay?" Obi-Wan takes in an exaggerated breath of air as if to demonstrate.

Anakin nods shakily. Breathing. He can do that.

He reaches up and grabs onto Obi-Wan's wrists, hanging on like they're lifelines. Obi-Wan nods encouragingly.

"Breathe in...two...three," Obi-Wan counts steadily. "And out...two...three."

Anakin follows, feeling his breath hitching and fighting his attempt to regulate it. They keep at it though, and eventually, some indeterminable amount of time later, he feels less shaky, less like he's going to fall apart.

"Okay, good," Obi-Wan says soothingly. "Now we need to repair your walls."

"My walls?" But even as he asks, he can sense it—they've crumbled in places.

"Yes, your walls. There were some cracks in your shielding so it couldn't contain the sudden onslaught of your panic. You were spilling out tremendously and it was causing the twins distress. Hopefully, physical distance and your calming down helped. But you need to rebuild your shields before you can go near them."

"There were cracks in my shields?" Anakin says, startled. "How long have they been there? I hadn't noticed them."

Obi-Wan shakes his head. "They've been there since we renewed our bond. I don't know when they first appeared. They were minuscule. Probably they started so gradually that you wouldn't have noticed them."

Anakin furrows his brows and frowns. That's concerning, and he knows that Obi-Wan feels the same way. But he doesn't have time to deliberate about the whys and hows. He just has to fix it, and quickly. "Help me with them?" he asks and is gratified when Obi-Wan nods.

He closes his eyes and sinks into meditation—it's gotten easier for him in the past couple of days. He still itches to be moving, to be doing something, but he's able to find his center much more quickly than before. He wonders idly if that's Obi-Wan's influence as he surveys what's left of his shields.

 _It would be better to start anew,_ Obi-Wan opines from next to him. _If we try to patch this one up, it'll still be weak at the seams._

Anakin looks at the tattered remains and agrees. They get to work.

 

* * *

 

Anakin hurries down the halls of the _Negotiator_ , long legs and eagerness making short work of the distance. Obi-Wan follows more sedately behind.

Flims had commed Cody with an update while they were deep in their meditation, and Cody had passed on the news to them once they had surfaced.

"The twins were born, the Senator is okay, everything went smoothly," Cody had said.

"Really?" Anakin had asked with trepidation, like he had wanted to believe that everything was indeed okay but afraid that it couldn't have been that easy.

"Yes, sir."

"Obi-Wan, I'm a dad!" Anakin had exclaimed, laughing.

Obi-Wan had chuckled, feeling tired down to his bones. Between his constant monitoring of the turbulence in the Force, trying to determine what was wrong with the clones, thinking about their next steps, and then managing Anakin's panic, he had felt wrung out. "So I hear," he had said. "You should go see them."

"You have to come too," Anakin had insisted.

"What? No. I shouldn't. This is an occasion for you and Padmé. I'll see the children later," Obi-Wan had protested.

"You're just as much a part of my family, so you should come," Anakin had said stubbornly. "If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't be here. I'd probably have lost my mind over the possibility of Padmé dying."

Obi-Wan had rolled his eyes but he had let himself be pulled out of the Situation Room and towards the medbay.

It warms him that Anakin considers him family, but he can't help worrying about the rest of the Jedi. He shouldn't be ruminating so much on their fates. It will be as the Force wills it. He has to accept that some of them have died and that more might die in the future. Accept it and reflect upon it and then move on and focus on those who are still living, including himself. And he will do that. He must.

But.

But those who have passed into the Force are unlikely to receive the traditional physical funeral rites so a spiritual and mental memorial is the least that he can offer them. Witnessing as their life forces fade and assuring that at least one of their family has noted their passing and mourns their loss.

He's stopped hoping that the Force will spare anyone, started wondering if this really is the kind of 'balance' that the Force needed. Are they truly to be whittled down even further so that their numbers equal that of Darksiders?

He pauses at the entrance to the medbay. Flims is in the corner washing his hands, Bant is hovering next to Padmé and carrying a baby, and Padmé is cradling a second child and smiling brightly up at Anakin as he walks in.

The room feels...light; full of new life and shining Light. It's like a balm to his soul. He doesn't want to step inside it, worries (irrationally, he knows) that he'll taint it with his troubled thoughts.

"Obi-Wan? What are you doing standing all the way over there?" Padmé calls out with a laugh. "Come over here and meet our children!"

Anakin turns and looks back at him. His eyes are beseeching, with a veil of happiness over the raggedness of loss.

This is just a brief respite from the ravages of war. But this is also a reminder of why they're fighting.

Obi-Wan takes a step forward and his feet carry him automatically the rest of the way.

"For names, I was thinking of Luke for the boy," Padmé says as she deposits the baby she had been carrying into Anakin's arms and turns to Bant for the other baby, "and Leia for the girl." She places the baby in Obi-Wan's waiting arms and he marvels at how small she is, how fragile and yet full of promise and potential.

"They're perfect," Anakin breathes out next to him.

Obi-Wan agrees wholeheartedly. He can't help but smile down at the baby in his arms, whose eyes are still squinted shut and who's still pink all over from the delivery. "Hello, Leia," he murmurs softly. "Welcome to the world."

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anakin and Obi-Wan break into Kamino!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It liiiiiivvvvvveeeesssss!!! I know some (or all?) of you probably thought this fic was abandoned but, no worries, it's not. It just took me almost a year to finish this next chapter. -.-
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's been reading, leaving kudos, and/or commenting! (Those comments really helped motivate me to keep writing even when I was stuck.)
> 
> Special thanks go to the very lovely [Dendral](http://archiveofourown.org/users/dendral/pseuds/dendral), who beta'd this for me, and to [themikeymonster](http://archiveofourown.org/users/themikeymonster/pseuds/DarthSnug), who helped me with the quip about the rancors (you'll see).
> 
> Hope you all enjoy this chapter!

The door chime breaks into Obi-Wan’s thoughts and he tenses reflexively, turning away from the small circular viewport and towards the door, hand reaching out to summon his lightsaber from where it’s sitting on the round table in the corner of his quarters. Then the familiar Force signature on the other side of the door registers and he forces himself to breathe out and relax his muscles.

R2D2, stationed by the door, chirps out a question.

“It’s okay, Artoo. It’s Bant. Let her in,” he says tiredly. He’ll be happy when this is over and he can stop jumping every time someone approaches him, wondering if this is another one of his men turning against him or just one who’s still fighting against whatever hold the Sith has over them. But even when they fix this—and he’s determined that they _will_ —he knows that it will be a long time before he stops feeling like he’s constantly on guard and on edge.

R2 beeps a confirmation, plugs into the door panel, and triggers the door to slide open.

“Bant,” Obi-Wan greets and a smile comes easily to him for what feels like the first time in days. He watches her walk in, gait nearly back to its normal glide, cast gone. “Your leg looks much better.”

“Even a rancor would look better after a week of bacta,” Bant quips, and Obi-Wan can hear the echo of thirteen-year-old Garen in that declaration.

“‘A rancor’s mother might even love him after a week of bacta’,” Obi-Wan recites with a grin and lets himself fall back, just for a moment, into his fifteen-year-old self spending his downtime with his friends and being delightedly shocked at Reeft’s unexpected rejoinder.

Bant chuckles and she must be reliving the same memory because she says, “Remember Garen’s face at that?”

“Remember how he tackled Reeft to the ground and threatened to steal all his desserts for the rest of the month if he didn’t take it back?”

“Reeft said he wouldn’t even if Mustafar froze over and then tried to headbutt him. And Garen leapt off of him like he was on fire, shrieking about his newly healed nose.”

Obi-Wan’s smile widens involuntarily. “Those two,” he says, shaking his head.

Bant’s look turns sober. “I wonder if they’re okay.”

“They’re still alive,” Obi-Wan reassures.

“I know. I can feel them. But there’s a difference between ‘alive’ and ‘okay’.” She folds her arms across her waist and grips both forearms just above the elbows.

Obi-Wan nods. He sighs. “I know. But we must trust in them.”

It’s Bant’s turn to nod. “Garen is a great pilot. One of the best. If anyone can survive this, it’s him. And you know he won’t leave Reeft behind.”

“No, he won’t. I’d sent them both with a squadron to the Mid Rim. I hope that that helped them, rather than hurt, since it was a smaller number of soldiers they had with them.”

“I hope so, too, Obi-Wan.” Bant falls silent for a moment, eyes going distant. Then, softly, she says, “Master Fisto was at the Temple. He came to see me when I was in the Halls of Healing. We dined together the night before I left with Anakin and Padmé. I told him that the Senator was experiencing a health problem and was going back to Naboo, and that you and Anakin had asked me to accompany her. He had joked about me getting pulled into a holodrama but said that it was good that I could focus on something else for a time besides the war. That was the last time I saw him.” She clenches her hands around her arms and blinks rapidly. “I don’t want that to be the last time that I saw him. I’ve already lost one Master.”

Obi-Wan takes a couple of steps over to stand in front of her, grasping her shoulder and squeezing. “He’s still alive,” he says and Bant dips her head and of course she knows; they would still be connected by their old training bond, weakened though it may be from disuse. “We have to believe that he got out of the Temple and off of Coruscant and is on his way to somewhere safe. The Council wouldn’t have been taken completely unprepared, not this time, not after the bombing.”

“Until I sense otherwise, that is my thought as well. But still, we’ve lost so much. Master Drallig, Master Nu….”

“Yes,” he says and lets the now-familiar wave of grief and regret roll through him. When it passes enough for him to speak again, he says, “She had hoped that I would take on the post of Chief Librarian, once I had retired from fieldwork. Or so she told Anakin.”

Bant smiles sadly. “Yeah? You would have been a good fit for that.” She sighs out shakily and visibly gathers herself. “When this is all over, we’ll build a proper pyre for them all and mourn them the way they deserve.”

“If there’s any of us left after all this,” Obi-Wan mutters, letting go of her and stepping back.

Bant gives him a sharp look but doesn’t counter him. That in and of itself makes him feel hopeless about their future all over again. But he pushes his doubts aside and focuses on the immediate present.

“You should stay here tonight. Take the second bunk. Artoo will stand guard.” At Bant’s arched brow, he says, “It was Cody’s idea, after one of the troopers tried to attack me while I was sleeping. I can substitute some sleep with meditation but I can’t do it indefinitely, and it isn’t restful if I’m spending that time watching my back. So Cody decided to make these quarters into a safe space for me to rest. As safe as we could make it, anyway. The engineers rerouted the door so that it’s disconnected from the rest of the ship’s system; it can only be opened by regular means from inside. Artoo can trigger the release from outside, by connecting to the circuits directly, and so can I, using the Force. The troops can’t. At least, not without alerting me to their attempt.”

Bant places a hand on the wall by the door. “But is it really a safe place or is it a trap?” she asks. “You could easily be boxed in here by a squad of soldiers.”

Obi-Wan shrugs. “This whole ship is a ticking time bomb right now. We don’t know when the next clone will succumb to the order or how many of them will. I’ve spoken with Captain Typho already and he and Motee will set up a watch on the medbay tonight while Anakin sleeps. Tomorrow, we’ll arrive at Kamino and hopefully get our answers.”

Bant nods. She hesitates, and then says, “Obi-Wan, back on the Senator’s ship….Anakin had called the Chancellor, to try to tell him to cease the attack. And the Chancellor...he told Anakin he wanted him to join him. Or rather, he said that he could either choose to join him or fall on his own when everyone else he loved died.”

Obi-Wan clenches his hand into a fist. “He’s looking for an apprentice.” He feels a sudden rush of protective fury. _How dare he—!_ But he banks it. He hasn’t felt such intense anger since Qui-Gon had been cut down. And it had nearly cost him the battle and his own life then; he won’t let it do that now. He needs to keep a cool head.

“Anakin said no,” Bant says hurriedly, as if she could sense Obi-Wan’s inner turmoil; she probably could. “But Obi-Wan, he felt really close to going Dark when he thought you had died. Really close.”

“I know. I could feel it through our bond. Anakin has...struggled with his Darkness. As we all have.”

Bant nods but crosses her arms again and squeezes herself tightly. “This was...frightening, though. On a different level than when other Jedi have fallen. The sheer amount of power he wields...the amount of destruction he could cause if he were to give in to that….” She shudders.

“There aren’t many Jedi who would be able to stand up to him in single combat. He even defeated Dooku by himself,” Obi-Wan says and though he means to sound somber about the truly grim possibility of Anakin turning Dark, a bit of pride seeps into his words at the memory.

Bant catches it, of course. She’s known him long enough to be able to pick up meaning in every intonation of his words. She gives him a smile and the atmosphere shifts. “You trained him well.”

“Do you think so?” Obi-Wan asks. He’s wondered, sometimes, how much of Anakin’s successes have been because of his teaching, rather than in spite of it.

“Of course. How many Jedi have been able to defeat a Sith in single combat? There’s you and, now, Anakin. And Anakin’s two years younger than you had been when you bested Maul.”

Obi-Wan’s lips twist. “If only I had beheaded him as Anakin did with Dooku.”

Bant squeezes his shoulder. “You cut him in half, Obi-Wan. No one should have been able to survive that. But at least we can be sure that Dooku won’t be returning from the dead.”

“That _is_ a relief. We have more than enough to worry about right now.” He sees Bant eyeing the time displayed on the screen over the meditation seat and knows what she’s about to say.

“We should sleep, Obi-Wan,” she says, just as he had anticipated.

Obi-Wan can’t help a small grin. “Never change, Bant,” he tells her and she rolls her eyes at him. “But very well, let’s go get a mattress from the storage unit.”

 

* * *

 

“You must not have been eating, have you?” Anakin says as soon as R2 has triggered the door to slide open for him. He’s holding a stack of three covered trays and manages to balance them on one hand while he brushes the other over R2’s dome. “Hey, buddy. How are you?”

R2 trills a greeting back and closes the door.

Obi-Wan arches a brow at Anakin, who’s now standing in the middle of the room surveying its contents—Obi-Wan with a set of star charts on his bunk, the small monitor over the bed flipped down and showing a reference document that he had pulled up, the larger monitor set into the wall of the room displaying the ship’s dashboard and current status reports, the meditation seat under that, the desktop that had been converted into a second bed for Bant the night before.

Anakin turns back to him and lifts up the trays with an arched brow of his own. “Food? You?”

Obi-Wan tilts his head. Considers. He must have…. “I must have eaten recently,” he says. At Anakin’s continued skepticism, he admits, “But I can’t quite remember when.”

Anakin nods. “That would explain why, when I went down to the canteen and told Boil that I needed a good meal because I was going to see if you wanted to spar after, he got this gleam in his eye and gave me two extra trays of food and _suggested_ to me that I find you now and that we eat together instead.” Anakin shrugs one shoulder. “I figured he was either very worried about your food intake or he was trying to set us up on a date. Frankly, I was hoping for the second.”

Obi-Wan chuckles. “I don’t think the food on the ship is of a quality to be considered a romantic dining option.”

“Well, it’s all we’ve got. And don’t let Boil hear you or he’ll kill you for sure.” Anakin grimaces. “Sorry, poor choice of words.” He shifts the trays a bit and says, “We’ve got two options here that I can see: bed or meditation seat. Which would you prefer?” Then, before Obi-Wan can say anything, he shakes his head. “Never mind. I feel like breakfast in bed.”

“First shift’s already almost over,” Obi-Wan points out, though he obediently moves over and gathers the star charts together to set aside when Anakin comes up to the bed.

“Always the logical one,” Anakin comments while he hands the trays to Obi-Wan and settles onto the bed. It’s a tight fit because the bunks are only meant for individual occupancy but Anakin seems determined to share it with him.Obi-Wan decides indulgently to keep his peace. He even stretches his legs out of their crossed position and scoots closer to the wall to give Anakin more room.

“All set? We should eat before you fall off the bed.”

“I’m fine,” Anakin says, and leans into Obi-Wan, flashes an impish smile at him. “I’ve got the Force. I am perfectly balanced.”

Obi-Wan shakes his head. “Say that again when you fall off the bed.” He sets the stack of trays down on both of their laps. “Well, let’s see what we’ve got.” Anakin removes the cover and sets it down on the floor next to the bunk. Obi-Wan surveys the contents of the tray and focuses in on the puff cake in the corner with pleasure. “Oh! I didn’t know Cody had ordered a supply of puff cakes!”

Anakin chuckles and brushes a kiss along his jaw. “You want to start with that?” he asks, picking up the plate and holding it out for him.

Obi-Wan’s torn. He does, but—“I shouldn’t. Dessert’s meant to be eaten at the end of the meal.”

“We’ve got three trays of food, Obi-Wan. Do you really want to wait that long before you get to enjoy this?”

Anakin has a point, Obi-Wan admits to himself. Still…. “Let’s do one entree dish and then the cake. A little bit of anticipation will make it taste better.”

Anakin shrugs and puts the plate back down. “Okay, your call. Your anticipation is killing me, though. I’ve never wanted to eat puff cake more than I do right now.” He makes a face and Obi-Wan holds back a chuckle; Anakin had never understood how Obi-Wan could like something that, to him, was far too sweet.

“Bant, Reeft, and I used to eat these together when we were young,” Obi-Wan says. “We’d get them as a treat after exams.”

Anakin hums and hands one of the forks to Obi-Wan and picks up the other himself. As they start eating the omelets instead, he asks, “So what have you been doing? I was hoping you’d stop by the medbay this morning but Bant said you were busy?”

Obi-Wan nods and swallows his bite of food. “I was going to stop by later. I’ve been meditating. And thinking about next steps.”

Anakin frowns. “I thought you were leaving the planning to Cody, since he’s more familiar with the cloning facility?”

“I mean for after. We’ll need a safe place to go, a way to contact survivors. We need to find out _who’s_ survived.” He gestures at the starcharts he’d set aside, color-coded notes in his personal shorthand scribbled on them. “I’ve mapped out some of the last known locations of Jedi. Some of them are just their assignments; I haven’t been able to confirm if they’re still alive or if they’re still there because they’re either too far away or I don’t have any links with them. Others are ones I’ve been able to confirm.”

Anakin hums. “So you want to go and pick them up?”

“Yes,” he says. He catches Anakin’s eyes and tries to convey how much they need to do this. “Anakin, we have to. They’re all out there alone and they don’t know what’s going on and they’re surrounded by people who’ve turned on them. The Council—we did have plans in place, contingency plans, in case the Temple was attacked or infiltrated again. But this, we never planned for _this_. We never thought the Republic itself would turn against us, that we’d be named traitors, that the whole army would—”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Anakin breaks in, setting down his fork and wrapping his hand over Obi-Wan’s. He eases the tight grip that Obi-Wan didn’t realize he had on his own fork, placing the utensil on the tray and entwining their fingers together with a gentle squeeze.

A comforting blanket wraps around him in the Force and muffles the turbulence and Obi-Wan breathes out a shaky laugh. He can’t afford to close himself off from the Force for too long but this feels... _like a relief_ , he thinks guiltily. For the first time in too long, it feels like he can breathe again. “How are you the calm one now?” he jokes.

Anakin chuckles. He brings their hands up to brush a kiss against his knuckles. “Believe me, it feels weird to me too. I think it’s because we’re in this together. We can do anything together. We’ve faced bad odds before and won.”

“Not on this scale.”

“No, not like this. But our bond is also stronger than it ever was. We’ll get through this.”

“I hope you’re right, Anakin.”

“I’ll make sure of it, my starbird.”

 

* * *

 

They decide to use a cargo bay for their spar, moving crates and boxes to the edges of the room to give them a clear space in the middle. R2 gives them their lightsabers and then goes to secure the doors and set the video feed to loop. They don’t want to risk any of the clones seeing them spar and getting triggered by the sight of Jedi lightsabers.

They do their warm-up katas and sink into their bond. The turbulence in the Force fades to a distant roar, still there but muffled.

The black bodysuits the clones wear under their armor are skintight and their movements cut through the air differently in them; they take the time to become accustomed to them and make the necessary adjustments.

They take up positions opposite each other and bow. Then, on a silent cue, they leap towards each other and begin the fight.

They’d always been well-matched, years of fighting beside each other and training against each other letting them predict each other’s moves and counter them seamlessly.

This time is different, though.

They don’t fight as two complementary pieces of a whole.

They fight as one, each movement perfectly synchronized so that they mirror each other exactly.

It’s a dance more than a fight.

 

* * *

 

“So, you want me to...” Anakin starts off slowly, “lay on this gurney…” he looks between said gurney and the medical transport ship, “be strapped in...and fake an injury? That’s your brilliant plan for infiltrating Tipoca City?” He looks at Cody’s impassive face, wondering if Obi-Wan’s ever-serious commander was playing a prank on him.

“It’s a bit risky, isn’t it?” Obi-Wan speaks up, sounding dubious.

“I thought General Skywalker would appreciate that,” Cody replies evenly. There’s not even a twitch of muscle to show whether he’s serious or not.

Anakin frowns and crosses his arms. While the plan does have a certain flair to it, he doesn’t like that it would essentially leave him vulnerable and unable to defend himself and Obi-Wan if things went wrong.

“It really is the best way, generals,” Flims speaks up and that confirms that Cody really is serious about this plan. “The facility medics aren’t soldiers the way we are. Their training is different. They won’t be looking for anything suspicious. And the medical floors have their own landing bays for medical transporters.”

“Won’t they notice that his armor isn’t fitting very well?” Obi-Wan asks.

“Not as quickly as they would if he was walking in next to us, and looking obviously like he doesn’t fit in,” Cody says. “It would be less risky if we substituted him with another brother, of course—”

“Absolutely not,” Anakin objects.

“—but he’s clearly opposed to that idea.”

“Well, as long as it’s not an immediate mob, I should be able to….” Obi-Wan waves one hand in the air, index and middle fingers straight up, the others curled into his palm. Anakin nods grimly and just hopes that Obi-Wan won’t have to try to implant a Force suggestion on a wide scale. He doesn’t know how many Obi-Wan can hold at once.

“What about weapons?” he asks.

Flims shakes his head. “We won’t be able to go in heavily armed. That would draw too much attention.”

“Great, that’s what I was afraid of,” he mutters. He sighs. “Alright, well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go break into Kamino.”

 

* * *

 

“I don’t like this,” Anakin says quietly to Obi-Wan as the medical transporter exits the bay of the _Negotiator_ , now in orbit around a nearby moon. To his relief, the straps of the gurney are only tight enough to look like they’re keeping him from falling off. He still has some freedom of movement, just not as much as he’d like.

“I know,” Obi-Wan says, rubbing his fingers against the black undershirt in the gap where Anakin’s left elbow pad fails to meet his upper arm casing. It’s a very small gesture but it sends shivers through him. “You know I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“And what about you?”

“I will endeavor not to let anything happen to me too.” Obi-Wan gives a small smile.

“I would be more relieved if I didn’t know how bad you are at that.”

“I suspect,” Obi-Wan says, eyes sad, “that the Force isn’t quite ready for me to go just yet.”

Before Anakin can ask him what he means by that, the ship’s comms crackle to life. “Identify yourself,” an unfamiliar voice says.

“Medical transporter from the _Vigilance_ ,” Flims responds briskly. “We have an injured brother who needs treatment. Requesting permission to land in the medical bay.”

“Negative,” the voice says. “We’re in lockdown. You’ll have to divert to the secondary facility.”

What? Anakin looks at Obi-Wan, who suddenly looks grim. _Shaak Ti_ , he mouths and Anakin’s eyes widen. Of course. She had still been here when the order went out. And now that he’s thinking of her, he can sense her somewhere on the planet; he’s never been able to accurately pinpoint someone’s exact location using their Force presence, not like Obi-Wan can, but he can tell that she’s still alive.

Obi-Wan shakes his head at someone in the cockpit and then there’s the sound of a switch being flipped; the ship rocks jerkily. Obi-Wan grabs his arm, either to steady himself or to keep Anakin from sliding off the gurney, he doesn’t know.

“We can’t do that,” Flims says. “We’re losing fuel. We don’t have enough to get to the other facility.”

The line goes silent for a few seconds while Anakin holds his breath. The ship tilts from one side to the other and an alarm starts blaring. Anakin widens his eyes. “What did they do?” he hisses at Obi-Wan. “We need this ship to get off of Kamino!”

“One thing at a time. Let’s see if we can even get _onto_ Kamino first.”

Then the voice returns. “Okay, you’re cleared to land in bay twelve in the medical hangar. Go directly to medical triage.”

“Roger that,” Flims says, and terminates the transmission. “Sorry, General Kenobi, we’ll need a new ride.”

“Not to worry, Flims, improvisation is our forte,” Obi-Wan says sardonically. He doesn’t say it but Anakin knows that there’s another part of their mission that will now have to be improvised: rescuing Master Ti.

 

* * *

 

Getting in turns out to be easier done than said, except for the heart-stopping moment when the bay doors first open and they’re faced with a squad of fully armed and armored clone troopers.

“What’s this?” Flims blusters, stepping forward. “We’ve got an injured brother here, not a prisoner.”

“It’s for your protection,” one trooper says, stepping forward to show that he’s unarmed and wearing the red armband of a medic. “The Jedi got loose.”

“What?” Cody says, sounding upset. They hadn’t spoken about how they should handle such a situation, but Obi-Wan hopes that Cody will be able to stay focused on their mission instead of giving in to the order of killing Jedi. “Give me a sitrep. We weren’t expecting to enter hostile territory.” He makes a show of gesturing for an extra blaster, too, which the new troopers hastily comply with.

And so, as they make their way through the hallways to the medical suites, Cody expertly gets the details of the situation on Kamino: Master Ti had been taken into custody when Order 66 first went out. Troopers had been divided over whether to execute her immediately for being an especially dangerous individual or give her a trial because—“It’s General Ti! She’s never hurt one of us and she would never!” one vehemently argues even as he holds his blaster up at the ready. The Kaminoans had wanted to turn her over to Palpatine.

“A group of brothers broke her out of containment a few days ago, though. We’re fairly sure they’re still in this facility,” the leader of the squad tells Cody. “We’ve grounded all ships so they couldn’t have gotten off. But we haven’t been able to find them.”

“Who…” Cody starts to ask, sounding puzzled. Then he tilts his head and says, “Oh. The alphas.”

The squad leader nods. “Yes. They’re divided, apparently. Some are still with us but some have gone over to the traitors’ side.”

“They’ve always been a bit unorthodox.”

Obi-Wan frowns and tries to call up what he knows of the alpha clones. There aren’t very many of them—only a hundred, if he’s recalling correctly—and they aren’t part of the regular army. They conduct special missions, under Mace’s command, because...they had been made differently somehow, or trained differently; meant to work independently, in either case. It doesn’t explain how some of them decided to aide Shaak Ti, though. Unless they’re following a different set of orders? Obi-Wan holds back a grunt of frustration. There are too many unknown variables in this situation. He dislikes operating blind and right now, it feels like Palpatine’s got a hood over all of them.

 

* * *

 

The scene in the medical triage hall is one of controlled chaos. Clones on stretchers are being pushed into rooms while recently treated clones exit other rooms; a medical droid with a humanoid head and repulsorlifts carries a stack of folded cloth from one room to another, floating around armored troopers stationed at regular intervals down the hall.

Their own armed escort peel off to take up positions elsewhere while the medic directs them into a room and leaves them to get settled.

Obi-Wan releases a breath once the door slides shut behind them. While Cody takes up a position at the door and Flims goes to the computer terminal set into the wall, Obi-Wan undoes the straps on Anakin’s gurney. He smiles in the safety of his helmet when Anakin scrambles up and off the gurney, a restless itch emanating from every inch of him.

“Finally,” Anakin mutters, soft enough that only Obi-Wan could hear him. He reaches into the pouch on his utility belt and pulls out a data chip. They move over to stand next to Flims, who’s pulled up what looks like files pertaining to Tup’s and Fives’ evaluations, displayed on the secondary monitor.

Obi-Wan claps a gloved hand on Flims’ shoulder. “Good work.”

Flims nods but doesn’t stop swiping through digital folders and files on the main monitor almost faster than Obi-Wan could follow. He leaves him to it, glad that Flims seems to remember the archiving system the Kaminoans use so well.

Anakin inserts the chip into the card slot and starts the process of copying the files that Flims has set aside.

“I’m trying to find all of the files on the chips now,” Flims says.

“Just take everything that mentions them. Or Order 66. Even partial matches. We’ll sort through it on the ship,” Obi-Wan reminds him.

“If Artoo was here...” Anakin says.

“Yes, but we agreed that he’d be of better use on the ship with Padmé.”

“Should I be offended that I’m being unfavorably compared to a droid, generals?” Flims asks dryly.

“I think we’d all be unfavorably compared to Artoo in Anakin’s eyes, Flims,” Obi-Wan says.

From near the door, Cody snorts.

“Here, look, what’s this?” Flims says suddenly. He gestures and a document enlarges to fill the screen.

“It’s the reassignment of a medical droid,” Anakin reads out. “Looks like it happened right after Tup and Fives were here. You think this is related?”

“I’m pretty sure that was the same droid,” Flims says. He resizes the document and opens up a second one, then shakes his head and closes it; opens another one.

“We don’t have much time,” Obi-Wan starts.

“I know, sir. But if it’s the same droid, maybe we can find it. Take it with us. It might have more information in its memory banks.”

“Even if they’ve wiped it?”

“We could probably restore the memory,” Anakin says. “With the right equipment. There’s usually ways to recover information that’s been deleted.”

Obi-Wan shrugs one shoulder. “You’re the expert.”

“Ah! Here,” Flims says triumphantly. He highlights something on the newest document he’s pulled up—a log of beings and droids present for Tup’s chip extraction. “AZI dash 3,” he reads out. Assigned to cleaning and maintenance for the medical unit.”

Obi-Wan frowns.

“Do you think it was that medical droid we saw in the hallway? That was a medical droid, wasn’t it?” Anakin asks the question that Obi-Wan had been wondering.

Flims nods. “I did wonder why a medical droid was distributing clean linens. I thought they were just very short-staffed but even at the busiest I’ve seen this place, they’ve never pulled a medical droid off duty for maintenance work. They’re too valuable for that.”

“Well, supposing that is the droid, how do you propose we take it with us?” Obi-Wan asks. “If they’ve wiped its memory, it won’t know why we want it to come with us.”

“We could...take it by surprise and initiate a shutdown of its systems?” Anakin proposes.

“And somehow carry a deactivated droid through the facility back to the hangar bay while we...oh yes, also appropriate a ship with which we’ll be able to leave this planet. Lovely.”

“No need to sound so dramatic, starbird. We’ll manage somehow.”

Obi-Wan rolls his eyes and makes sure that Anakin can sense that through their bond.

Just then, the low hubbub of conversation in the hallway is interrupted by shouts and blaster shots.

“What the—” Obi-Wan starts, heading for the door.

Cody steps away from the door and turns to face it, raising his blaster defensively as thumps sound from outside.

Obi-Wan picks up a metal stand and takes up a position opposite Cody in front of the door. “Ready?” he asks. At Cody’s sharp nod, he hits the button to slide the door open, just in time to see a clone trooper flying backward through the air. Obi-Wan tilts his head in consideration. The angle of that push, and the speed with which the trooper had gone by...that could only be—

“Hello, gentlemen,” Shaak Ti’s serene voice says just as her familiar figure appears in the doorway, framed by the brighter white light from the hallway. She looks as graceful and as put-together as she always has; Obi-Wan wouldn’t have known that she’s spent the past couple of days eluding capture by the entire cloning facility if he hadn’t already heard about it from their escort. “I like your new uniform,” she directs at him.

Obi-Wan relaxes and sets down the metal stand. Next to him, though, Cody stiffens further and raises his blaster. “Hold where you are, Jedi!” he barks out.

“What? Cody—” Obi-Wan says as a couple of troopers, dressed in white and blue armor, step forward on either side of Shaak Ti, blasters raised and directed at them. Each of them have different markings on their armor, done in a variety of colors. Obi-Wan ignores them at the moment, trusting Shaak Ti to keep them from attacking the rest of them, and grabs his commander’s arm. “Cody, please stand down. Master Ti isn’t a traitor.”

“The Jedi must die,” Cody responds, voice monotonous.

At that, the clones around Shaak Ti close in around her more, moving in such synchrony that it sounds like only one of them had taken a step rather than ten.

Obi-Wan gives Cody’s arm a shake. “Cody!” he says sharply, unable to hide the concern in his voice. “Cody, please listen to me. Master Ti’s been in charge of training the clone troopers for years. She’s always looked out them, always done her best to ensure that everyone is trained as best they could be. She’s no traitor.”

Cody’s arm trembles; his other hand wraps around his wrist and squeezes.

Obi-Wan steps closer. “Do you trust me, Cody?”

“Of course, sir,” Cody says with a jerk of his head.

“Then trust me when I say that Master Ti hasn’t done anything to warrant being labeled a traitor. She doesn’t deserve to die.”

There’s a tense pause, and then Cody says, sounding strangled, “I know.”

“We need to take her with us. Alive. She’s got knowledge that we need. We can put restraints on her,” he suggests with a look to Shaak Ti, who gives the barest of nods.

It’s another few tense moments before Cody nods and holsters his blaster and shifts into a resting stance. Obi-Wan takes the cuffs from his utility belt, and fiddes with them as he unfolds them and opens them. The clones around Shaak Ti part for him at a gesture from her and she holds out her hands for him.

Anakin announces, “We’re done,” timed perfectly to cover the fact that there’s no click of the cuffs locking into place when he closes them around Shaak Ti’s wrists.

Obi-Wan glances over his shoulder and sees Flims shutting down the system and removing traces of their visit. He nods. “Okay, let’s go, then. We’ll grab AZI-3 on the way and hopefully have an uneventful trip back to the hangar.”

“AZI-3? What do you want with a droid?” Shaak Ti asks, sounding puzzled.

“We think it might have information about Tup and Fives. Recordings of its interaction with them, raw notes on findings about the chips. The Kaminoans have been close allies of the Chancellor. There’s no telling how much they may have doctored their official forms to keep information secure,” Anakin says.

“Did you see a medical droid earlier?” Obi-Wan asks. “It was floating between rooms.”

Shaak Ti cocks her head. “I believe there was one that retreated into a triage room when the fighting started.” She turns to one of the clones next to her. “Would you please check the rooms for the droid? I fear that if any of the clones in the rooms see me, they’ll try to confront me and risk exacerbating their injuries.”

“Yes, sir,” the clone responds and taps one of the other clones to go with him for the search.

As they step out into the hall, Obi-Wan takes in the scattered bodies lying haphazardly around the hall. Most of them are slumped against the walls.

“They’re just unconscious,” Shaak Ti reassure him; needlessly, as he can sense that they’re still alive. That’s not what he had been looking at. None of the clones bear any marks of lightsaber burns. And yet, Shaak Ti’s lightsaber is hanging conspicuously on her belt.

“You’ve been staying on the defense,” is all he says.

“Yes,” she says.

Obi-Wan isn’t surprised.

 

* * *

 

They’re nearly to the hangar when Obi-Wan senses the approach of a group of lifeforms and signals for everyone to stop and take up defensive positions. When the group rounds the corner, it turns out to be several young cadets, unarmed and unarmored. As one, they look startled, dismayed, and guilty. Then they catch sight of Shaak Ti and shrink back.

“You caught the Jedi!” one of them pipes up with bravado.

“What are you doing outside of barracks?” Cody asks. “The facility’s on high alert, you should be in your designated area.”

They share looks among each other and then one steps forward, tilting his chin up. “We wanted to help with the search! We’re not _useless_ ,” he says.

“Uh-huh,” Cody says, sounding unimpressed.

“Hey, how’d you get so tall? Aren’t you kind of tall for a _vod_?” one asks suspiciously to Anakin. They’d decided to use the stretcher to transport the deactivated medical droid for the return trip and so Anakin had been walking just behind and to the left of Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan barely holds back a snicker. It’s an entirely inappropriate response for a situation of this gravity but _children_. They’re the same everywhere, evidently.

“I ate all my vegetables when I was younger,” Anakin says flippantly.

Obi-Wan groans internally. _Anakin, don’t engage them_.

 _Sorry, dear starbird,_ Anakin sends back but he doesn’t feel repentant about it.

“What happened to your voice?” another cadet asks sharply. Obi-Wan can feel the suspicion and tension ratcheting up in the group.

“That’s enough,” Cody interrupts. “You don’t question your superiors.” The group falls silent.

Obi-Wan doesn’t have to see Cody’s face to know that he’s running through their options for handling this situation and the cadets, and they’ve worked together closely enough that Obi-Wan knows what Cody will settle on. So when Cody turns to him, he just gives a nod.

“We’re escorting the Jedi prisoner to Coruscant,” Cody tells the group. “For your initiative, you may accompany us.” The cadets’ eyes widen in surprise and eagerness. “But,” Cody cautions, “you must do exactly as you’re told.” They all nod quickly and stand up straighter. “Fall in. Take a position with a _vod_. If shooting starts, you’re to take cover. No heroics. Understand?” They nod again and scramble to blend into the group.

Obi-Wan ends up with a cadet at his side, one with light brown hair grown down to the nape of his neck. Anakin doesn’t get anyone, the cadets still giving him suspicious looks as they pass him to assign themselves to one of the alpha clones instead.

 _I’m hurt_ , Anakin tells him with a pout. _Just because I’m tall?_

 _I’ve been telling you for years that you’re too tall, love._ Obi-Wan accompanies the joke with a fond tug on their bond.

_I’m not too tall. Everyone else is just short._

_You’re in the minority here._

_What about the Kaminoans?_

_They’re not human._

_Fine. I’m gonna go walk next to Master Ti, see if I don’t._ But he doesn’t move from his position behind Obi-Wan as the now expanded group starts making their way down the corridor again.

 

* * *

 

They arrive at the hangar without further incident but once they get there, Anakin sees that they’re going to have a problem. The bay doors to the left of them are shut and there are clones stationed throughout. They’re not actively patrolling the room so they must have already cleared it but they must know that anyone (namely, Master Ti and her group of clones) wanting to leave the planet would have to come through here.

“We’ll need one of those,” Cody says, pointing at a cluster of larger ships parked on the right side of the hangar. The ships are bigger than the shuttle they had taken down to Kamino and wouldn’t be as maneuverable but they do have more people to carry now. Anakin hopes they have decent shields.

“Those are going to be tough to get to,” Flims observes.

Anakin nods. Tough, and likely not possible without some casualties.

“Consider this a training exercise,” Cody says and Anakin startles, then realizes that he’s addressing the cadets. Of course. They think this is an official, sanctioned mission that they’re on. “We have to board one of those ships without being seen.”

Obi-Wan taps Cody and points at the bay doors. Since the cadet’s comment about Anakin’s voice, the two of them have been careful not to speak. Not until it’s safe to reveal who they really are.

“We can shoot those out once we’re on the ship,” one of the alpha clones answers instead. “They’re meant to defend from outside forces, not inside.”

“Why—” one of the cadets starts before being shushed by another cadet. You don’t question your superiors, Cody had said. Anakin wonders what it had been like, growing up like that. He’d drawn similarities between the clones and the Jedi before but Obi-Wan had never discouraged him from questioning him. He’d encouraged it, actually, always saying that debate and open discourse is how people learn from one another. There’d still been expectations that they would follow their mission directives, of course, especially once the war had started, but they certainly had never been expected to follow orders to the point of killing their friends and allies.

“We are going to stick to the shadows. You’ll step where we step, move when we tell you to and stop when we say so,” Cody continues with the cadets. “Understand?”

“Yes, sir,” they chorus softly.

They get halfway to the nearest ship when one of the clones spots them. He raises his blaster and gets out a “Hey!” when Obi-Wan’s in front of him, moving so fast that he must have used the Force. His body hides the movement of his hand but Anakin can feel the subtle shift in the current of the Force as he implants a suggestion. The clone nods and turns around. Obi-Wan returns to the group and gestures them along.

They’re spotted again just as they get to ship and have triggered the ramp to lower for them to board. This time, the clone is too far away for Obi-Wan to manipulate and he opens fire on them immediately. Shaak Ti’s lightsaber hums to life as she steps forward and deflects the shots with a two-handed grip, cuffs still visible around her wrists but clearly not impeding her movements. The cadets shriek, whether in response to being shot at or being in the presence of a Jedi with a lightsaber, Anakin doesn’t know and doesn’t have time to care.

“Everyone on board the ship!” he shouts and the cadets hurriedly obey without question.

The commotion’s gotten the attention of the rest of the clones in the hangar and more of them come running, blasters up and firing. Reinforcements from the rest of the facility will be here soon.

They return fire as they walk backwards up the ramp, Shaak Ti’s flashing lightsaber their sole source of defense. Anakin wishes he and Obi-Wan had been able to bring theirs as well, and he nearly curses her attachment to the clones when she deflects all the shots into the floor or the walls instead of disabling the clones shooting at them. He understands, though. The clones aren’t themselves and they’re not attacking of their own will; they don’t deserve to die or be injured in this fight.

 _But neither do we,_ he thinks grimly to himself.

There’s a sharp cry and a clatter next to him and he looks over to see one of the alpha clones on the floor clutching his leg. Anakin steps in front of him to provide cover. “Get him into the ship,” he says and hopes that someone hears him.

The ramp suddenly starts to rise and they quicken their steps back into the ship. The clones outside are still trying to shoot into the ship but their shots are only hitting the ceiling and sending sparks into the cabin as the ramp inclines to a close.

“Good thinking,” Cody says to the cadet standing by the door release mechanism.

“There’s going to be a lot of firepower coming our way,” Flims says worriedly. The pings of blaster bolts hitting the hull of the ship dampens as the door closes completely.

Cody nods. “Everybody, strap in.” He turns to Anakin. “Can you get us out of here?”

One of the alpha clones steps forward. “I can do it, I’m a pilot.”

“So am I and I’ve got something extra,” Anakin tells him. He takes his helmet off. With a sigh, Obi-Wan does the same. The clone gives a short nod and steps back.

“You’re a Jedi!” one of the cadets yelps in alarm. “What are you doing here? You’re traitors!” He struggles to unsnap his harness.

“Stop it,” Cody tells him. “General Kenobi and General Skywalker are the best generals in the army. They’re not those traitorous scums. Sorry, General Ti.”

Master Ti says nothing, just nods her head in acknowledgement and takes a seat opposite the cadets. The alpha clones arrange themselves on either side of her, blasters resting on their laps.

The cadet subsides but glares fiercely at Anakin and Obi-Wan. Anakin ignores him. “Will you be my co?” he asks Obi-Wan, who silently agrees and follows him into the cockpit.

They work seamlessly together, years of being pilot and co-pilot making fast work of the pre-flight sequence. Then they’re in the air.

Anakin gets them into the cleared space between the rows of angled ships, facing the doors of the hangar. Obi-Wan fires the forward guns at a targeted spot. When the blasts just dent the doors, he shakes his head and switches to the missiles.

Around the rest of the hangar, clones are climbing into fighters and turning them on.

As soon as they’ve blasted open a hole big enough for their ship, Anakin propels them forward, pushing the ship as fast as she’ll go. They fly through the door of the hangar and into turret fire, followed by a steady stream of starfighters.

Obi-Wan engages the shield and Anakin dodges blasts, taking the ship into steep dives and sharp turns. He stretches his awareness along the body of the ship and into the Force around them.

“I need—” he says and Obi-Wan’s already increasing thrust on the port engines so that he can swing the ship up and to the right.

“Reinforce—” he starts and Obi-Wan’s already diverted power to the aft shields, just before the blast connects. It rocks the ship but doesn’t cause any significant damage.

Like their spar on the ship earlier, the bond sings between them and they move as one.

Anakin doesn’t see any other way to deal with the ships tailing them and Obi-Wan doesn’t either; he’s regretful as he starts to shoot at them. It’s hard to be accurate with the gun turrets on the ship but he tries to aim for wings and tails rather than the cockpits. If he can shoot them down before they break out of the planet’s atmosphere, at least the pilots can eject and land in the water, rather than be left to the nonexistent mercy of space and its unforgiving vacuum.

He’s mostly successful, but several of the fighters follow them through atmo and into space. He grimly shoots to kill then; they can’t afford for the clones to discover the _Negotiator_ on the far side of the moon. As far as they know, this ship was taken by rogue clones and Master Ti. They can’t learn that there’s a star destroyer waiting for them.

Then it’s done and the space around them is clear.

As soon as they dock in the _Negotiator_ ’s hangar, Anakin laughs. The adrenaline of the flight surges through his veins, the Force swirls through him and around him, and Obi-Wan is a shining beacon next to him, in him. He unhooks his harness and climbs onto Obi-Wan’s lap. “We did it,” he says, looking down into Obi-Wan’s gray-blue eyes. For once, they’re sparkling and bright after a landing, rather than their usual pinched look.

“We did,” Obi-Wan breathes out shakily. His hands come to grip Anakin’s hips tightly. “Anakin, you were _brilliant_. Is that how it always feels for you when you’re flying?”

“ _Fuck yeah_ ,” Anakin says, framing Obi-Wan’s face with his hands. He ducks down and presses his lips urgently against Obi-Wan’s, pushes forward until they’re chest to chest. The breastplates of their armor clack against each other. His heart thumps a rapidly crescendoing beat.

“That was amazing,” Obi-Wan murmurs when they break apart for air. Then he stretches up to catch Anakin’s lips and Anakin moans.

“ _Fuck_ , I need you so bad,” he says. He skims his hands down the body of Obi-Wan’s armor, searching for the clasps to undo it. “Fuck,” he says again, frustration building when he can’t find the tiny mechanism. “ _Kriff_! Why is it so hard to get this _off_? How do the clones ever manage to have sex?”

Obi-Wan snorts and then breaks into a laugh. His delight washes over Anakin and he slumps forward, feeling the urgency ebb away just a bit. “I imagine,” Obi-Wan says with wry amusement lacing his tone, “that they’re usually not trying to have sex while in armor.”

Anakin huffs out a laugh. “I can’t believe this,” he says. He shifts on Obi-Wan’s lap, the already tight armor feeling even tighter now that he’s feeling hot from need and adrenaline.

“Patience, love,” Obi-Wan says. “We’ll have plenty of time later.”

“Yeah, alright.” Anakin runs his hands through Obi-Wan’s hair and brushes one more kiss to his lips before climbing off of him. He can feel Obi-Wan centering himself while he unbuckles his safety belt, and Anakin lets that calmness wash over him. He wills his arousal away, to simmer in the background of his mind.

The rest of the ship is empty, so Cody must have sorted everyone out already. He can see why Obi-Wan likes Cody. The commander is efficient. Discreet.

The commander is smirking at them when they step off the lowered ramp of the ship. “Finished?” he asks slyly.

Anakin does not blush.

“We would have were it not for this blasted armor,” Obi-Wan says blithely.

Anakin does not nearly swallow his tongue.

Cody nods sagely. “So said many a soldier.” He holds up his commlink. “The senator’s asked for you both.”

“What?” Anakin asks, feeling a spike of alarm. “Why? Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing’s wrong, General. She said it was not urgent. She just wants to speak with you before we leave this system.”

“She must have news from Coruscant,” Obi-Wan says. “Where are the others?”

“The cadets are secure in a room. They’ve been instructed not to wander the ship but I posted two men to watch them anyway. General Ti and the soldiers who were with her are in medical, getting cleared.”

Obi-Wan nods. “Okay. We’ll go speak with Senator Amidala. Prepare the ship for departure.”

Cody salutes and walks briskly away.

Anakin falls in next to Obi-Wan while they make their way out of the hangar. Their hands brush, their breaths sync, and their bond thrums.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I'll, er, try to get the next chapter out in a reasonable amount of time....
> 
> Come hang out with me on [tumblr](http://likealeafonthewind.tumblr.com)! I've also got a [dw](https://likealeafonthewind.dreamwidth.org/) now but haven't done much with it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This is my first writing attempt in SW so please let me know if any of the characterization seems off or if I've gotten something mixed up about the universe.
> 
> Feel free to come chat on [tumblr](http://likealeafonthewind.tumblr.com) or [LJ](http://todriftornot.livejournal.com)! If you liked this, please consider [reblogging](http://likealeafonthewind.tumblr.com/post/141760214423/right-so-that-au-prompt-i-posted-earlier-about). It would make my day, really. :)


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